The national flag carrier has come under fire after promoting a senior engineer who was found guilty of negligence and irregularities by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Instead of reprimanding the officer, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) elevated him to a permanent role, ignoring the regulatory authority’s warning.
CAA identifies irregularities
According to official documents, the CAA had issued a formal warning to PIA after pointing out irregularities in its engineering department. The letter held the chief engineer of base maintenance responsible for serious negligence and carelessness.
The authority instructed the airline to make improvements in administrative matters within the department. However, the CAA did not explicitly recommend the removal of any officer.
PIA moves forward with promotion
Despite the warning, PIA promoted the same officer, who had been serving in the position in an acting capacity for over a year. The airline justified the move, saying that the officer’s appointment was based on merit.
A PIA spokesperson said, “There is no compromise on safety issues. Merit prevails in the organization. The Civil Aviation Authority did not recommend the removal of any officer, but only directed to further improve administrative affairs of the engineering department. The said officer has been promoted on merit.”
