Tag: Aviation Minister

  • ‘Fake pilot licences’: UN staffers asked to avoid Pakistani airlines

    ‘Fake pilot licences’: UN staffers asked to avoid Pakistani airlines

    The Pakistani aviation industry is still suffering from the fallout of a controversial statement made by the aviation minister last year wherein he had accused the Pakistani pilots of having fake credentials.

    In the latest blow to the aviation sector, the United Nations has asked its staffers to avoid travelling on the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and other airlines registered in Pakistan.

    Ghulam Sarwar, the aviation minister, had made the controversial statement in parliament in the aftermath of a deadly aircraft crash in Karachi that had resulted in the death of at least 98 people. Following the crash, the minister had blamed the pilot for the crash and said most pilots in the PIA didn’t even a required qualification to fly the planes.

    His statement created an uproar, resulting in a ban on Pakistani pilots. The ban in Europe still persists.

    A report in Geo News quoted an advisory issued by the UN Security Management System asking its employees to stop using the Pakistani airlines for travelling.

    “Due to an ongoing investigation of the CAA [Civil Aviation Authority] Pakistan…due to dubious licenses caution is advised on the use of Pakistan-registered air operators,” said the statement.

    The advisory has been issued for all Pakistan-registered carriers and has been recommended to all the UN agencies, including the UN Development Programme, World Health Organization, UN High Commission for Refugees, Food and Agriculture Organization, UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization and others.

    The advisory by the UN also drew flak by a journalist who covers the aviation beat. Tahir Imran said that the advisory was “created by some dumb official at the UN” because it includes “cargo airlines” as well.

    “Unless there are heavyweights working with the UN Pakistan who needs cargo aircraft to travel around,” he said while taking a jibe at the UN.

  • Minister, who got PIA flights banned in Europe, refuses to admit mistake

    Minister, who got PIA flights banned in Europe, refuses to admit mistake

    Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar has refused to admit that his controversial remarks that accused the Pakistani pilots of having fake licences caused massive losses to the national airlines and resulted in a ban on its flights in Europe.

    In a show with Geo’s Shahzeb Khanzada, the minister said he didn’t say anything wrong and that his honesty must be “appreciated” and that the entire sector was facing losses due to COVID-19, not just the national carrier.

    After a deadly plane crash in May 2020, the minister on the floor of parliament had claimed 262 pilots had fake licences. His statement created an uproar, resulting in a ban on Pakistani pilots. The ban in Europe still persists.

    Also, investigations had reportedly revealed that 182 out of the 262 pilots have valid credentials.

    However, the minister said despite all the bans his steps should be lauded because he was pushing for transparency.“Should we not have taken any action? You should appreciate that someone is taking initiative. Our transparency should be appreciated,” he said in the show.

    He further said that the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had a satisfactory score of “97.6%” which was considered “great”. At this, the host retorted that the EU ban on the PIA still remains, no matter the score, because of the statement made by the minister.

    But, Ghulam Sarwar insisted that his steps should be appreciated despite the fact that PM Imran Khan and the attorney general had already said that the PIA issue was mishandled.

    According to a report in July, the PIA was likely to incur losses over Rs100 billion due to suspension of international flights amid the fake licences controversy and the coronavirus pandemic.

  • EU refuses to lift ban on PIA, seeks safety audit of CAA

    EU refuses to lift ban on PIA, seeks safety audit of CAA

    The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has decided to retain a ban on the Pakistan International Airlines, saying it will not be lifted until a complete safety audit of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

    In response to a request by PIA CEO Arshad Malik, wherein he sought temporary suspension of the ban, the EU agency said the CAA will have to fulfill the pre-conditions if it wanted the ban to be lifted.

    Profit reported a letter by EASA as saying: “Regarding a lack of confidence in certification and oversight activities performed by the Pakistani CAA, which was the second aspect that led to the suspension of Third Country Operator Authorisation, the investigation performed by the European Commission and by the ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organization] has not yet been concluded.”

    “Consequently, as all preconditions to lift the suspension are not met and, as an audit will be necessary, the agency decided not to revoke your Third Country Operator (TCO) authorisation but to extend the suspension period by additional three months.”

    On Saturday, Ghulam Sarwar, the aviation minister, had claimed that the ban on PIA flights to Europe would be lifted soon. The EU banned the PIA flights in July after claims that the PIA pilots had fake licences.

  • Embarrassment for aviation minister as Civil Aviation Authority says all licences issued are real

    Embarrassment for aviation minister as Civil Aviation Authority says all licences issued are real

    Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan and the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday had to face embarrassment at the hands of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) that said all commercial pilot licences (CPL) and airline transport licences (ATPL) issued by the authority were genuine and validly issued.

    Pakistani pilots working with foreign airlines as well as Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have now for weeks been unable to discharge their duties amid bars by the international community following the aviation minister’s claims of dubious licences.

    His statements on the floor of the National Assembly had led to grounding of several Pakistani pilots working with foreign airlines besides the suspension of the national carrier’s operations in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) as well as the United States (US) over safety concerns.

    READ: US bans PIA

    According to reports, the Aviation Division secretary, who is also serving as the director general (DG) of Pakistan CAA has told the DG of Civil Aviation Regulation of Oman that all CPL and ATPL licenses issued by his office are genuine and validly issued.

    In a letter, a copy of which is available with The Current, he wrote that his office had cleared or verified 96 pilots licenses out of 104 names received from various CAAs or foreign airlines. This includes the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), Vietnam Airlines, Bahrain Air, Civil Aviation Malaysia, Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department and Turkish Airlines.

    READ: Army to finally launch Askari Airline?

    The remaining licenses will be cleared by next week, he maintained and added that the matter had been “misconstrued and incorrectly highlighted” by media as well as netizens on social media.

  • IHC to decide on petition seeking removal of aviation minister

    IHC to decide on petition seeking removal of aviation minister

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday reserved its verdict on the maintainability of a petition seeking the removal of Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan from office for bringing the issue of pilots’ dubious licences out in the open.

    The petition, filed by one Advocate Tariq Asad, submitted that the remarks tarnished the image of the country in the international community.

    The petition was filed a day after the European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) has suspended the authorisation for the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to operate in Europe for six months. In another related development, the United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Agency suspended PIA flight operations from three airports — Birmingham, London Heathrow and Manchester.

    Recalling the EASA decision, the petitioner said if a pilot possessed a fake/dubious licence, the minister should have taken action against them instead of bringing the matter in the knowledge of the National Assembly from where the national and international picked it up.

    Subsequently, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah reserved his verdict on the matter which he said to announce later.

  • Europe bans PIA

    Europe bans PIA

    • UK, which is no longer a part of the EU since after Brexit, has also banned certain PIA flights

    Amid the controversy around the alleged fake licences of hundreds of Pakistani pilots, operations of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in Europe were on Tuesday banned for six months by the European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA).

    According to a spokesperson of the national carrier, EASA has suspended PIA’s authorisation to operate in European Union member states for six months effective July 1, 2020 at midnight.

    A statement from the national carrier added that PIA would discontinue all its flights to Europe temporarily.

    All passengers booked on its flights to European destinations will have the option to either extend their bookings to a later date or get a full refund.

    “PIA is in contact with EASA to allay their concerns and to take necessary corrective measures along with filing the appeal against the decision,” the press release said.

    The national flag carrier said it “sincerely hopes that with reparative and swift actions taken by the Pakistani government and PIA management, earliest possible lifting of this suspension can be expected”.

    Meanwhile, according to journalist Murtaza Ali Shah, United Kingdom (UK), which is no longer a part of the EU since after Brexit but remains subject to EU law, has also suspended PIA flights from and to Birmingham, Heathrow in London, and Manchester with immediate effect.

    “The UK Civil Aviation Authority is required under law to withdraw PIA’s permit to operate to the UK pending EASA’s restoration of their approval that it meets international air safety standards,” the journalist quoted a spokesperson as saying.

    The moves follow the grounding of hundreds of pilots whose licences Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan termed “dubious”. Most pilots were affiliated with PIA.

  • PIA pilots’ licences

    PIA pilots’ licences

    The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) crash in May that killed 97 out of 99 people on board is still fresh in our memories. An initial report says it was due to human error by the pilot and air traffic control. Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said the pilots were distracted discussing coronavirus and as a result, the pilot initially failed to perform the landing correctly when the plane scraped at the runway the first time before taking off again. In another shocking “revelation”, the aviation minister said that 262 pilots out of 860 active ones in Pakistan have “fake licenses” which he later changed to dubious or suspicious licences. It not only made international headlines but as a result, PIA grounded 141 pilots while there also are reports of Pakistani pilots in Vietnam and some Gulf countries being grounded, subject to a review.

    On the other hand, Pakistan Airline Pilots’ Association (PALPA) on Saturday denied these allegations. Head of the pilots’ union said there is no truth in these allegations. According to a detailed report in BBC Urdu, the claim by the aviation minister is incorrect and the number of pilots with dubious credentials is not as high. The minister later conceded his original stance. The report explains that the examination process, which makes for about 5 per cent of the licensing process, changed in 2012. Before 2012, pilots had to give two papers but a new model of examination was introduced by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) which now requires pilots to take eight papers, mostly theoretical. It did lead to some pilots failing the exams as they were quite complicated or they didn’t get a proper understanding of the scope of exams.

    While many cleared the new examination process, some could not, so an environment evolved where it was made easy for pilots to cheat and some eagerly resorted to cheating, which included making others sit in their place to clear the exams for a few hundred thousand rupees. It is said that while pilots around the world get their commercial licences after being tested for their technical know-how and flying hours as well as a basic examination process, Pakistan’s new examination process was thought to be cumbersome for most of the pilots since it was laid out in a way that was not clear to those who were taking it.

    This is a case of moral dilemma as well as using unfair means. Being a pilot is one of the key jobs where there are extremely high expectations of moral obligation and trust. Cheating cannot be condoned at any cost nor the concept of facilitation of such unfair means. All pilots must be investigated properly and if they have resorted to shortcuts, they must be punished. That said, if the number is marginal compared to the minister’s claim, a clarification must be issued to clear the names of Pakistani pilots. Some complain that the CAA’s role in the entire process raises some red flags.

    We cannot stress enough about air safety. Hundreds of lives are at stake each time a plane takes off. The Aviation Ministry, CAA and airlines must investigate thoroughly and make their findings public. Any such inquiry must involve international stakeholders to add credibility to an embattled CAA whose own credibility is also on the line. Pilots and their bodies also need to initiate a thorough, inward-looking review process that builds trust in their own profession and shows that they are not on the wrong side of the debate.

  • PIA & 150 pilots ‘with fake licences’

    PIA & 150 pilots ‘with fake licences’

    The Supreme Court (SC) has taken notice of reports of pilots allegedly flying planes in Pakistan without licences.

    Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed has summoned a reply from the director general (DG) of civil aviation within two weeks, directing him to explain how and why these fake licences are issued and what action is being taken against the people who issue them.

    Putting passengers’ lives at risk is a major crime, the CJP said and also summoned the heads of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Air Blue and Serene Air at the next hearing, directing them to submit reports verifying the licences of their respective pilots.

    PIA GROUNDS 150 PILOTS:

    In a related development, PIA announced on Thursday that it will be grounding nearly 150 out of its 426 pilots amid an inquiry that they hold “dubious” licences.

    A day earlier, Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said 262 pilots, out of total 860 in the country, have suspicious flying licences and would be grounded immediately.

    Talking to media in Islamabad, he said licences of these pilots are dubious.

    The minister stated that there are some pilots, who did not appear in any paper but managed to get the licences.

    He informed that the government has decided that all such pilots would be issued show cause notices and charge sheets so that they could not fly any plane.

    Sarwar said criminal proceedings would also be initiated against pilots with fake licences as the government could not allow anyone to put the lives of its citizens at risk.

    The decision comes at a time when an initial inquiry into a PIA plane crash was presented before the parliament by the country’s aviation minister, who also highlighted irregularities at the national carrier.

    PIA’S REACTION TO MINISTER’S CLAIM:

    Earlier, PIA asked the Aviation Division to provide a list of all quack pilots associated with the airline.

    PIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik wrote a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) DG in reference to the minister’s claim that out of 264 fake or suspicious licences, around 150 belonged to PIA pilots.

    As an operator as well as the national flag carrier, he said, “It is a grave concern for us as many out of these 150 pilots must be flying PIA aircraft, which cannot be allowed after disclosure of fake/suspicious licences scam by [the] aviation minister”.

    Arshad Malik reminded the top CAA official that he had penned a similar letter to the aviation secretary for the provision of a list of those PIA pilots having fake or suspicious licences but no response had so far been received.