ISLAMABAD: Former President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt on Monday suggested to sell out Pakistan International Airline (PIA) as per him it is not possible to make it profitable and spending more resources on its revival would be useless.
In a statement issued here, he was of the view that though the losses of PIA have substantially came down but still it was it was wasting up to 140 million rupees per day which is a drag on nation’s kitty.
Quoting example of US, Shahid Rasheed Butt stated that dozens of countries are without a national flag carrier and it will make no difference if Pakistan has not one.
He said that last year PIA losses during the first six months were 36.5 billion rupees that have come down to Rs25 billion during the current year but it is still not affordable.
The losses of PIA have come down by 31.5 percent but its revenue has also almost halved from Rs51.2 billion to 27.6 billion due to various reasons including travel restrictions.
The current level of losses was not sustainable, therefore this company should be sold to use saved money on national and social development, he demanded.
The business leader said that the government had approved a Rs 457 billion restructuring plan for PIA in April in which 3500 employees out of 14000 will be fired and non-profitable routes would be shut but its success seems difficult.
He said that PIA loans and liabilities are somewhere at Rs786 billion rupees while plans are afoot to buy new aircraft which should be reconsidered.
Infusing new life in failed institutions through costly borrowing is not a wise move, he said adding that PIA had imposed a ban on the trade union activities, withdrawing the exemption given to the office-bearers working in the CBA unions in March 2019 but it has not helped revive the loss-making enterprise.
