Cabinet Division notifies appointment of PIA board of directors

KARACHI: The Cabinet Division has notified the appointment of the board of directors of the national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The division issued a written order to formally notify the appointment of directors of PIA board comprising 10 members including four directors from the government and six from the private sector.

The newly-appointed directors of the national carrier’s board include secretaries of aviation, finance division, economic affairs division and chief executive officer (CEO) of PIA.

The non-executive members include Aslam Rana, Atif Aslam Bajwa, Dr Jawaid Ghani, Barrister Zahid F Ebrahim and Dr Zeelaf Munir. Captain (Retd) Muhammad Ali Gardezi is also included in the list.

Read: PIA’s Roosevelt Hotel announces to permanently close doors after nine decades

It also read that the federal cabinet directed aviation division to confirm the veracity of the figures presented during the briefing to cabinet on the restructuring of PIA in the previous meeting held on October 6 in the next meeting. Moreover, the information minister was ordered to clarify the controversy surrounding the Roosevelt Hotel in the media.

Earlier in September, it emerged that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suffers hard times with its corporate governance as all the major decisions are awaiting the appointment of the board of directors.

The previous board of national flag career consisting of nine board members was dissolved on August 6 and ever since the flag career is without a board to make its decisions. In the absence of an incumbent board, all the major decisions for the flag career are pending the approval.

Read: NAB orders inquiry into PIA’s Roosevelt Hotel closure

The major decisions that have been adjourned until the newly appointed board can assent it, include procurement of aircraft on lease and assigning a General Sales Agent (GSA), among others.

Another major decision is the approval of over Rs100 million expense budget for the uplift of the airline, however, until again the appointment of the board, it cannot be acquiesced.

Secretary PIA Board had earlier mailed a letter to Pakistan Stock Exchange on September 7. The contents of the letter comprised a request for the removal of nine ex-board members’ names from the company profile after August 6.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had set up a committee to decide the nominations for the new board. The committee comprised Aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Secretary Aviation Division Hassan Nasir Jamy and the CEO PIA Arshad Malik.