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Pakistan International Airlines, once the face of the country, now looking to save its face only. The downfall of one of Asia’s best airlines can be seen right through the last two decades. From being an grade A transport system to now a grade C, the downfall of PIA has a lot of lessons for the people and stakeholders of the company in the country.
The last few years has seen PIA suffer extremely, especially through the handful of rookie mistakes that have been made by different sectors of the company. From sacrificing black goats for a safe flight to flights actually crashing, from staff smuggling drugs into other countries to the lack of safety checks, PIA has seen it all.
However, this latest development about the former PIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), a Germany international, Bernd Hildenbrand has shocked the whole country and angered a lot of people. As per reports, the PIA CEO had selected a particular PIA Airbus 310, rented it and subsequently sold it for personal gains, teaming along with some big names.
Along with Hildenbrand, the name of retired Air commodore and brother of Ex-DG ISI Rizwan Akhtar, Imran Akhtar has also popped up in the story. The two got together on the sale of the Airbus, flew it to Germany and then sold it at prices of absolute scrap, something no modern day airplane or company deserves. In monetary calculations, it served as huge loss to the PIA.
After he probe had started against Hildenbrand last year, his name was placed on the Exit Control Lost. However, on the demands of Germany, he was allowed to leave the country for one month. As it should have been, the CEO has never returned to Pakistan for investigation and inquiries.
The Senate of Pakistan, along with NAB and other stakeholders took notice of the incident but nothing much could be done about Hildenbrand’s extradition from Germany to Pakistan. However, measures are still being taken. Another thing that raised a lot of eyebrows was the immediate resignation of Ex-DG Inter Services Intelligence, Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar, after his brother was named in the selling of the PIA plane.
Imran Akhtar, the Air Commodore, was left out by the Air Chief Marshall Sohail Aman, as he informed the Senate that if Imran Akhtar was caught, the PAF would not take him back as a serving officer.
Scams and sales like these have hindered the forlorn progress of Pakistan as a country and as a nation. People in influential positions make the best of their time in office and damage the national exchequer anyway they can. As for Hildenbrand, there are very few chances of him being brought back to Pakistan and tried in the court of law.
