Re: PIA in really bad shape
Quite expected and well deserved fate and I believe that anti-Mush should be happy about that :). I know that it would be difficult for some to understand the punch and realize why PIA is going down the drain but those who are pro ex-disgraced Iftikhar would never understand.
Here is the problem ... not with PIA but with all government controlled business ventures. Pakistan Railways, State Life, WAPDA, Steel Mill, government controlled Banks, PIA, PSO ... etc.
Before Bhutto they were either in the hand of private individuals (who started them as ventures) or it was in the hand of competent non-political government servant hands. Bhutto came and brought politics in government. With Bhutto, all these businesses started getting used for providing jobs to political safarshies and political workers (later, political leaders ... especially PPP leaderships ... also started selling jobs in these businesses).
Thus these institutions would have got destroyed earlier but Zia came and stopped their use as prostitutes for politics (though some did got destroyed by the end of Bhutto rule, that includes Pakistan shipping industry, Pakistan ship-breaking and salvaging industry, and many privately held educational institutions).
After the death of Zia, again most of them became prostitutes for politics. Both NS and BB used them to fill their political workers, safarashies and 'for selling jobs'. As time passed, these businesses started making huge losses and by mid 1990s government was running them at the cost of tax payer money.
We should remember that one corruption charges against BB was of giving jobs in PIA to her political workers, safarishies and selling jobs in PIA for money. These newly employed people had nothing to fear about their job and used the company to loot and plunder. One can read the above article that even after 8 years (when present government is trying their best to get rid of extra employees from all such businesses), still PIA has 440 employees per aircraft when efficient airlines have around 150 employees per aircraft.
Nevertheless, all government controlled businesses were over staffed. Both NS and BB used them to give jobs to their political workers, job for money, and safarshies.
When Musharraf came to power, his government tried to change this. Injected money and got rid of extra staff. After making these businesses profitable and lean, they were intended to get sold (some did got sold) ... not because they were money spinner for government but they were burden on tax payer and it was required to get them disposed ... as best use of tax-payer money is not to bail out over staffed businesses so that selective political workers can have their free earnings, but best use of tax-payer money is to spend on building of country and infra-structure in the country ... but some retards who do not understand businesses like disgraced ex-CJ and corrupt journalists (paid by corrupt politicians), started calling the procedure as selling state silvers or thought that selling them was corruption (those who are corrupts look at all things with their corrupt eyes ... like corrupt x-CJ).
Unfortunately ... mentally retard and corrupt Iftikhar stopped that process. And since then, probably government stopped bailing them out ... so here we have PIA going down the drain and I would not be surprised that if corrupts would come back, after some years from now, Pakistan steel and other businesses would go down the drain too.
[Many do not even know that run down business like 'British leyland' cost government to close down and 'ROVER' was sold for 50 pence. British Steel when privatized, got less than what Pakistan steel mill was getting. We should know that even to close down businesses cost money and businesses are valued according to what profit they make ... not just asset values. Marconi ... at one time its share was valued 13 pounds (company was worth over 20 billion pounds) ... when gone into losses, it was given to creditors (I think total debt was around a billion pound when company was handed over to creditors) and share holders (owners) got nothing].