Air Vice Marshal Muhammad Amir Hayat is re-designated as Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited. The Prime Minister has approved his nomination for this position after he was recommended by the board of directors in their meeting held on 12 December 2024. In that capacity, he would remain in position until a permanent CEO is appointed.
The reappointment of Hayat means that he is going back to the position he previously held for a one-year term as part of an earlier government effort to privatize the state-owned enterprise. PIA has been in financial losses and heavy debt, which made it part of the $7-billion bailout program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Privatization, the government strategy for PIA, aimed to improve efficiency and reduce financial pressure, has hit several roadblocks. Despite offering a 60% stake in the airline, the only bid—Rs10 billion from the Blue World Consortium—fell significantly short of the Rs85 billion minimum price set by the Privatization Commission. Consequently, the government rejected the bid, opting to restart the privatization process.
In a wider reshuffle, PIA has named Khurram Mushtaq as its chief operating officer and Inamullah Qureshi will handle the training and development department. This move is said to boost operational efficiency and improve performance in the loss-incurring airline.
The government intends to stabilize the loss-incurring PIA by adopting strategic reforms. However, the search for investors to bail out the debt-ridden airline is proving a tough nut to crack.
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