SHAMK9
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August 25, 2012
IQBAL MIRZA
Pakistan International Airlines has done it. What looked an insurmountable task has been achieved with indomitable success. The end of London Olympics 2012 has brought a sigh of relief for the management as it managed to improve overall punctuality for on time departures for London from Pakistan while meeting the schedule arrival time limit to earn remarkable regularity amid a stern warning by London Airport Authority (LAA).
According to sources in national carrier, the airline was under immense pressure due to an uncompromising warning issued by London Airport Co-ordination (LAC) to PIA to strictly follow the allotted slots during the Olympics ie July 14, 2012 to August 14, 2012, as even a slightest deviation would have resulted in the denial of landing rights at London Heathrow airport.
The new management has completed this gigantic task quite successfully as only two flights were delayed out of total 27 operated to London during the period from Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, said the source. The reason of the delay of one of the flights, he explained, was bad weather while the other got late clearance from Quality Assurance as the department was extra cautious due to continuous safety checks of PIA aircraft at foreign stations. "PIA co-ordinated with Heathrow airport authorities in time over these two delayed flights and got their slots changed without any further warning from airport authorities in London," he said.
In addition to this achievement, PIA during last month improved its overall punctuality from 60 to 78.1 percent for on time departures. "While meeting the schedules, the regularity of flights has gone remarkably above 90%," he added. This he said was achieved despite the fact that still several aircraft are grounded for spares and engine and 3-4 for routine checks for which the management is striving to handle the operations in a planned way besides vigorously working on lease option under temporary bridging plan to augment the existing fleet.
It is worth adding that LAC before the start of Olympics had warned PIA that in case of delays and cancellations they would "Prohibit you [PIA] or your services (some or all) from operating at the airport for the remainder of the Olympics period and/or a period that is proportionate to your use of the airport in the previous 12 months." This harsh warning added to the woes of PIA because of the fact that London authorities had to have their airports very busy during the Olympics. According to the schedules PIA has been operating 3 weekly flights to London from Karachi, 4 from Islamabad and 3 from Lahore, and in all it had to maintain 80 percent punctuality.
"It shows that the new management has passed their real test. The best part of this achievement is that it had to face other issues as well during the period like 13 out of 39 aircraft were grounded, late inspection of aircraft by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), bad weather, a 'go by book' strike of Air Traffic Controllers, and Quality Assessment Inspections," he said.
This can be gauged by the fact that prior to the Olympics some 29 percent departures of PIA from UK were delayed by dint of ATC clearance, 18 percent due to security reasons, 4 percent due to Q.A inspection/clearance, 25 percent for technical reasons while 25 percent flights were delayed due to other reasons.
Previous management after receiving severe warnings on safety assessments of fleet had discontinued Airbus operations to Europe and was flying only Boeing 777 to avoid safety assessments objections which had resulted in grounding of some of its aircraft at foreign airports last year.
However the availability of funds for procurement of spares and strict and stringent measures taken by new management regarding on time departures made it possible for the national flag carrier to avoid further warnings. During this period PIA not only improved its performance in UK but it also started operating Airbus for European destinations while during few checks of Safety Assessments (SAFA) the Airbus were cleared and were allowed to continue operations.
Sources said the new management had even given a go ahead signal for change in cruise speed if required to meet slots in case of slightly late departures from Pakistan. The speed enhancement required a lot of calculation as per fleet capabilities, wind directions, route availability and on top of it the passengers' safety. The pilots were given a green signal by the management to use short cuts if available and higher cruise speeds to meet the slot timings in case of late departures without compromising on flight safety. The efforts and calculations resulted in achieving around 93 percent punctuality which adds up to the credibility, a commodity the national flag carrier has been anxiously looking for during past few years, the source said.
PIA has done it!!! | Business Recorder
IQBAL MIRZA
Pakistan International Airlines has done it. What looked an insurmountable task has been achieved with indomitable success. The end of London Olympics 2012 has brought a sigh of relief for the management as it managed to improve overall punctuality for on time departures for London from Pakistan while meeting the schedule arrival time limit to earn remarkable regularity amid a stern warning by London Airport Authority (LAA).
According to sources in national carrier, the airline was under immense pressure due to an uncompromising warning issued by London Airport Co-ordination (LAC) to PIA to strictly follow the allotted slots during the Olympics ie July 14, 2012 to August 14, 2012, as even a slightest deviation would have resulted in the denial of landing rights at London Heathrow airport.
The new management has completed this gigantic task quite successfully as only two flights were delayed out of total 27 operated to London during the period from Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, said the source. The reason of the delay of one of the flights, he explained, was bad weather while the other got late clearance from Quality Assurance as the department was extra cautious due to continuous safety checks of PIA aircraft at foreign stations. "PIA co-ordinated with Heathrow airport authorities in time over these two delayed flights and got their slots changed without any further warning from airport authorities in London," he said.
In addition to this achievement, PIA during last month improved its overall punctuality from 60 to 78.1 percent for on time departures. "While meeting the schedules, the regularity of flights has gone remarkably above 90%," he added. This he said was achieved despite the fact that still several aircraft are grounded for spares and engine and 3-4 for routine checks for which the management is striving to handle the operations in a planned way besides vigorously working on lease option under temporary bridging plan to augment the existing fleet.
It is worth adding that LAC before the start of Olympics had warned PIA that in case of delays and cancellations they would "Prohibit you [PIA] or your services (some or all) from operating at the airport for the remainder of the Olympics period and/or a period that is proportionate to your use of the airport in the previous 12 months." This harsh warning added to the woes of PIA because of the fact that London authorities had to have their airports very busy during the Olympics. According to the schedules PIA has been operating 3 weekly flights to London from Karachi, 4 from Islamabad and 3 from Lahore, and in all it had to maintain 80 percent punctuality.
"It shows that the new management has passed their real test. The best part of this achievement is that it had to face other issues as well during the period like 13 out of 39 aircraft were grounded, late inspection of aircraft by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), bad weather, a 'go by book' strike of Air Traffic Controllers, and Quality Assessment Inspections," he said.
This can be gauged by the fact that prior to the Olympics some 29 percent departures of PIA from UK were delayed by dint of ATC clearance, 18 percent due to security reasons, 4 percent due to Q.A inspection/clearance, 25 percent for technical reasons while 25 percent flights were delayed due to other reasons.
Previous management after receiving severe warnings on safety assessments of fleet had discontinued Airbus operations to Europe and was flying only Boeing 777 to avoid safety assessments objections which had resulted in grounding of some of its aircraft at foreign airports last year.
However the availability of funds for procurement of spares and strict and stringent measures taken by new management regarding on time departures made it possible for the national flag carrier to avoid further warnings. During this period PIA not only improved its performance in UK but it also started operating Airbus for European destinations while during few checks of Safety Assessments (SAFA) the Airbus were cleared and were allowed to continue operations.
Sources said the new management had even given a go ahead signal for change in cruise speed if required to meet slots in case of slightly late departures from Pakistan. The speed enhancement required a lot of calculation as per fleet capabilities, wind directions, route availability and on top of it the passengers' safety. The pilots were given a green signal by the management to use short cuts if available and higher cruise speeds to meet the slot timings in case of late departures without compromising on flight safety. The efforts and calculations resulted in achieving around 93 percent punctuality which adds up to the credibility, a commodity the national flag carrier has been anxiously looking for during past few years, the source said.
PIA has done it!!! | Business Recorder
