Lack of professionalism blamed for aviation industry’s downfall

RAWALPINDI: The Aircraft Owners and Operators Association (AOOA) has issued a white paper on the failures of the aviation industry, claiming that a lack of professionalism caused pilot licence issues, leading to a ban on operations of Pakistani airlines in EU countries.

Posting the right people in the proper jobs was one of the recommendations made in the white paper, which outlined the reasons behind the aviation industry’s downfall and suggested measures to improve it.

The AOOA said former aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, due to lack of understanding of the sensitivity of the matter, was wrongly briefed by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) that a number of pilots possessed fake licences. It destroyed the whole industry, and Pakistani airlines were banned from operating in Europe and the United States.

“Now, it is proven that there are no fake licences, and the court has dropped the charges against pilots… However, the present CAA director general is not even accepting the court orders and is unable to restore the image of the country which is causing further delays in lifting the ban on PIA and other airlines for Europe and US,” says the white paper.

It regretted that legislation is done without following the proper system of getting input from the stakeholders through parliamentary committees.

The AOOA suggested measures for improvement and increase in revenue, such as outsourcing of unused airports to local governments/entities. It also called for renewing all lapsed air transport licences of airlines and other air operators on a perpetual basis to generate economic activity and create jobs.

The AOOA also suggested reforming aviation policies by eliminating exorbitant fees, reevaluating DG’s powers, and reconsidering age limits on aircraft imports to stimulate industry growth, prevent closures, and retain jobs.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2024