The hasty claim made by the aviation minister on the floor of the National Assembly that one third of the flying licenses issued by the Civil Aviation Authority to PIA pilots were fake is coming home to roost. As many as 262 of some 800 pilots were not qualified fliers, had faked their licenses and endangered the lives of thousands of passengers at risk over years is what he said. And with that, he painted black not only the national airliner, its pilots working within and outside Pakistan but also the state’s safety certification system operated and manned by officers of Pakistan Air Force.
Driven by self-righteousness, the minister could not visualise the consequences of his thoughtless observations.
Promptly the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expressed concerns over “serious lapses in the licensing and safety oversight by the aviation regulator” and asked for more information. Soon thereafter, the European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) suspended PIAs operations to any of the EU states for six months. The ban will go in effect from today (Friday).
The United Nations removed PIA from its “Recommended List” and advised the UN staff in Pakistan not to travel on any, not only PIA, Pakistan-registered airlines until further notice. “In light of recent accident information, caution is advised,” the UN travel advisory said.
On Wednesday, the UK Civil Aviation Authority banned PIA to operate from three of its airports, London Heathrow, Manchester and Birmingham—the three major flying destinations of PIA. On Wednesday also, the UAE sought confirmation from Pakistan of the credentials of Pakistani pilots and engineers working in the Gulf country. Obviously the UAE was worried that some of the Pakistani pilots and engineers working there may also be carrying fake flying licenses and endangering the lives of thousands of passengers.
“We request to verify the licensing credentials of the attached list of pilots who are currently holding UAE’s pilots licenses based on the licenses issued by CAA,” the letter said, further asking Pakistani authorities to clarify the difference between “fake” and “suspect” cases, if any, so that appropriate action could be taken in the interest of flight operations”.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), headquartered in Montreal Canada, is also poised to take action. Sensing this, Pakistan’s mission in Canada sent an SOS to Foreign Office to give it all the facts about the fake pilots’ licenses so as to be ready if called upon by the ICAO anytime. But the Foreign Office is clueless about the facts which seem to be known only to the aviation minister. In reply to a media question, the FO Spokesperson said that the Aviation Division alone could respond to it, which in turn has gone in hibernation.
That there is much wrong with the PIA and it needs a massive overhaul is not in the doubt. Its issues have been discussed in several parliamentary committees which also made several recommendations even if to no avail. The present writer has been a member of the special Senate Committee on PIA that was set up on a motion moved by him in 2016. The special committee went through all complaints of irregularities, corruption, inventory stealing, the disappearance of an aircraft, over invoiced purchases, safety protocols, pilots and technical staff recruitment, favouritism and nepotism. The tussle between pilots and PIA management has always been well known. But there was not a single complaint from the management or from any other quarter of pilots’ fake flying licenses. That is less than four years ago. What happened during the last four years should be best known to the aviation minister.
When the PIA demanded the list of the 262 pilots allegedly possessing fake licenses, the minister simply wrote back saying that an inquiry had “indicated grounds to suspect the genuineness of several pilot licenses.” Quietly, in almost a volt face, he seemed to retract from his earlier claim of fake and bogus flying licenses.
If the minister had no proof of fake licenses, why did he jump the gun in the first instance? What does he mean now by the ‘grounds to suspect’? What are the reasons that ‘indicated’ suspicion to him? Were the pilots in question first asked to clarify their position with respect to suspicions against them and if not, why not?
Who should know better than the aviation minister himself the need for a thorough investigation before handing down a guilty sentence? Was he himself not disqualified for possessing fake educational documents which on subsequent investigations turned out that they were not as bogus as many believed them to be?
If the minister had no evidence, why did he say all this? Did he bend over backwards to create a perception that the PTI government does not spare anyone for corruption and wrongdoing? By pretending to come out clean, did he want to indirectly prove wrong the accusations of cover-up against PTI government in the recent wheat, sugar and petrol scandals? Or, did he want to divert attention from the failings of his own Aviation Ministry in the May 22 crash of PIA’s A-320 aircraft and death of a hundred passengers in Karachi?
Whatever the reasons, when on June 30 the European Union while disallowing PIA’s operations to its countries for 6 months declared in a formal letter that “Pakistan is currently not capable to certify the oversee its operators and aircraft in accordance with the applicable international standards,” the aviation minister should have realized his faux pas and stepped down from office.
If he himself did not resign, he should be shown the door. He is simply unfit for the job.
The writer is a former senator
Driven by self-righteousness, the minister could not visualise the consequences of his thoughtless observations.
Promptly the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expressed concerns over “serious lapses in the licensing and safety oversight by the aviation regulator” and asked for more information. Soon thereafter, the European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) suspended PIAs operations to any of the EU states for six months. The ban will go in effect from today (Friday).
The United Nations removed PIA from its “Recommended List” and advised the UN staff in Pakistan not to travel on any, not only PIA, Pakistan-registered airlines until further notice. “In light of recent accident information, caution is advised,” the UN travel advisory said.
On Wednesday, the UK Civil Aviation Authority banned PIA to operate from three of its airports, London Heathrow, Manchester and Birmingham—the three major flying destinations of PIA. On Wednesday also, the UAE sought confirmation from Pakistan of the credentials of Pakistani pilots and engineers working in the Gulf country. Obviously the UAE was worried that some of the Pakistani pilots and engineers working there may also be carrying fake flying licenses and endangering the lives of thousands of passengers.
The aviation minister should have realized his faux pas and stepped down from office
“We request to verify the licensing credentials of the attached list of pilots who are currently holding UAE’s pilots licenses based on the licenses issued by CAA,” the letter said, further asking Pakistani authorities to clarify the difference between “fake” and “suspect” cases, if any, so that appropriate action could be taken in the interest of flight operations”.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), headquartered in Montreal Canada, is also poised to take action. Sensing this, Pakistan’s mission in Canada sent an SOS to Foreign Office to give it all the facts about the fake pilots’ licenses so as to be ready if called upon by the ICAO anytime. But the Foreign Office is clueless about the facts which seem to be known only to the aviation minister. In reply to a media question, the FO Spokesperson said that the Aviation Division alone could respond to it, which in turn has gone in hibernation.
That there is much wrong with the PIA and it needs a massive overhaul is not in the doubt. Its issues have been discussed in several parliamentary committees which also made several recommendations even if to no avail. The present writer has been a member of the special Senate Committee on PIA that was set up on a motion moved by him in 2016. The special committee went through all complaints of irregularities, corruption, inventory stealing, the disappearance of an aircraft, over invoiced purchases, safety protocols, pilots and technical staff recruitment, favouritism and nepotism. The tussle between pilots and PIA management has always been well known. But there was not a single complaint from the management or from any other quarter of pilots’ fake flying licenses. That is less than four years ago. What happened during the last four years should be best known to the aviation minister.
When the PIA demanded the list of the 262 pilots allegedly possessing fake licenses, the minister simply wrote back saying that an inquiry had “indicated grounds to suspect the genuineness of several pilot licenses.” Quietly, in almost a volt face, he seemed to retract from his earlier claim of fake and bogus flying licenses.
If the minister had no proof of fake licenses, why did he jump the gun in the first instance? What does he mean now by the ‘grounds to suspect’? What are the reasons that ‘indicated’ suspicion to him? Were the pilots in question first asked to clarify their position with respect to suspicions against them and if not, why not?
Who should know better than the aviation minister himself the need for a thorough investigation before handing down a guilty sentence? Was he himself not disqualified for possessing fake educational documents which on subsequent investigations turned out that they were not as bogus as many believed them to be?
If the minister had no evidence, why did he say all this? Did he bend over backwards to create a perception that the PTI government does not spare anyone for corruption and wrongdoing? By pretending to come out clean, did he want to indirectly prove wrong the accusations of cover-up against PTI government in the recent wheat, sugar and petrol scandals? Or, did he want to divert attention from the failings of his own Aviation Ministry in the May 22 crash of PIA’s A-320 aircraft and death of a hundred passengers in Karachi?
Whatever the reasons, when on June 30 the European Union while disallowing PIA’s operations to its countries for 6 months declared in a formal letter that “Pakistan is currently not capable to certify the oversee its operators and aircraft in accordance with the applicable international standards,” the aviation minister should have realized his faux pas and stepped down from office.
If he himself did not resign, he should be shown the door. He is simply unfit for the job.
The writer is a former senator