http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=6694

Saturday, March 24, 2007, Rabi-ul-Awal 4, 1428 A.H.
Unannounced strike paralyses PIA operations

By Javed Afridi

PESHAWAR: The unannounced strike by the engineers and pilots of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has paralysed operations of the national flag carrier throughout the country, an official told The News on Friday.

"Owing to their resentment over the handling of PIA's affairs by its Chairman Tariq Kirmani, the technical staff has decided to ‘go by the book’, which means bring the airliner to a complete halt if the situation remains the same for a few more days,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said at least four flights at the Peshawar airport -- PK-283 Dubai, PK-293/294 Al-Ain, PK-350 Karachi and PK-351 Karachi -- could not be cleared since morning due to technical faults. He added that the situation was worse in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

“We are faced with total chaos as passengers of the delayed flights scuffle with the ground staff round the clock. It is for the traffic control and reservation counters to face these people," he said and added the technical staff has nothing to do with the resented lot at the lounges.

Haji Zaman Khan, an expatriate waiting for the Al-Ain-bound plane, said he had to leave the country before 25th due to visa restrictions and the situation was getting worse for him. "We (expatriates) normally leave the country at the eleventh hour when our visas are about to expire in order to spend more time with our families and such delays may lead to cancellation of our visas," he said.

A Riyadh-bound plane PK-755, due to leave at 10.4 am on Wednesday morning, is still stationed at the airport, while its passengers were boarded on another plane after a delay of 36 hours.

Regarding the concerns of the technical staff, the official said sacking of staff, low salaries and more working hours were their main problems to which the chairman lend a deaf ear. He said a number of experienced engineers and pilots from the PIA fleet were hired by bigger airlines, which created a vacuum. The situation, he said, was aggravated when more staff was sacked to accommodate men from active services of PAF.

Is this a growing trend in Pakistan where brave souls are boldly going against corrupt leaders and messed up CEOs?PIA is in limbo and the management has failed.

What a shambles. I think it’s time for Musharraf to take action now. Time to reorganize the whole friggin’ organization from top to bottom. Bring in young honest folks that have the ability to run and manage the flag carries the way it’s supposed to be! Out of a population of 160 million, we surely can find a few.

Now our patriotic economic planners will try to prove that look PIA is also a white elephant so sell it to some foreigner so that its condition should improve . these bastards can sell their own mother if they get proper price.

another classic case of putting PAKISTAN for sale.

pity , in Pakistan the corrupt is always at the top , the bastards always succeed .

indians are buying companies abroad , we are selling our strategic assets to foreigners.

PIA Chairman, Tariq Kirmani resigns http://dawn.com/2007/03/27/top6.htm

He was a good man actually, educated, chosen by Shaukat Aziz himself.

From what I have head, Mr. Tariq is one of those that destroyed PIA from within

http://www.pakistaniaviationforum.com/inde...amp;#entry11009

Shahid, you're talking about a PIA Blog / forum.
Kirmani himself has a rich history of success (Caltex and PSO). He took over when PIA was already drowning, he didn't lease the 777's, or not replace old fleet untill it was too late. He did good by foreseeing future and leasing the ATR-42's. His bad luck was that he wasn't able to help PIA anymore, it was already drowning.

In that forum, they're talking about his daughter painting the PIA tails.
I knew both of them, well the younger one was a kid then. The elder one used to live in Sydney, Australia, and she wasn't capable of designing her own room, let alone design the tail (because the tail was a great idea, it made our fleet look good). She never had the brains for such good ideas.

Please! He made some of the most skilled PIA staff including crucial support, engineering and operational staff and resorted to recruiting the children of personal friends and contact who had barely left university. Ever wondered why PIA went down the toilet?