PM orders fast-track reforms in PIA.

ISLAMABAD -- Prime MinisAter Imran Khan on Friday ordeAred expeditious reform of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to pull the national flag carrier out of the tailspin.

'Revitalising national institutions like PIA would require both administrative restructuring and transparent utilisation of the available resources,' Mr Khan said, while chairing a meeting on the affairs of the airline.

He called for pursuing a comprehensive reform strategy and undertaking the planned changes on priority basis.

The loss-making national carrier has struggled to come out of crisis for decades despite induction of new planes and various changes introduced from time to time.

Officials propose review of National Aviation Policy

Aviation experts believe that the poor state of affairs at the airline have been because of poor management, bad service and loss of business to Gulf airlines because of the country's liberal open sky policy. Entry of far-eastern carriers including Chinese airlines after the start of CPEC caused more business losses for it.

Unending crises have, meanwhile, diminished employees' motivation level.

Last month's crash of a PIA aircraft while landing at Karachi exposed its deteriorating flight safety standards and badly damaged its reputation.

PIA's balance sheet is currently showing accumulated losses of Rs434 billion, while its total liabilities, excluding loans, have grown to Rs247 billion against assets of Rs103 billion.

Restructuring the airline has been on PTI government's agenda ever since it came to power in 2018. One of the first steps taken by the current government in this regard was appointment of Air Vice Marshal Arshad Malik as CEO of the airline in 2018.

The...

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