20000305

Steps to prevent

PIA financial

losses suggested

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The Pakistan Bedwear Exporters Association (PBEA) has suggested measures to reduce financial losses suffered by the national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) which was once most attractive and profit-making airline in the world.

PBEA Chairman Shabbir Ahmed, who extensively travels by PIA on both international and domestic routes, in a letter to PIA Managing Director Arif Ali Khan Abbasi, said that the airlines senior officers, who have a non-revenue ticket, should surrender their seats to the revenue passengers when a flight is overbooked.

He also suggested PIA officers should always travel in economy class and surrender their entitlement in the interest of revenue income to the airline.

Shabbir Ahmad narrated an incident while travelling by PK 309 from Islamabad to Karachi on February 29, 2000. He said he had a business class ticket but since there was no seat he travelled in economy class. During the flight, he was shocked at observing that PIA's Customer Services Director Wasim Bari, who had a non-revenue ticket, was comfortably seated in business class on a flight for which many business class passengers were downgraded and many holding confirmed tickets, were denied boarding for short of seats which meant substantial loss to the national carrier.

He pointed out that throughout the journey from Islamabad to Karachi PIA protocol personal provided special VIP treatment to Wasim Bari who was seen off at the Islamabd Airport and was received with fanfare at the Karachi Airport. It shows that a VIP culture which has been discarded by the present government still persists in the national carrier.

The PBEA chief advised Wasim Bari that as director of customer services he should provide efficient service to the passengers instead of taking service from the overstaffed national airline of which he is an employ.

He said this is the reason why PIA is incurring losses by obliging the non-revenue passengers and rejecting the revenue passengers.