World’s Worst Airline – With Fake Pilots – Close To Restoring Flights To Europe – View from the Wing

World’s Worst Airline – With Fake Pilots – Close To Restoring Flights To Europe

by Gary Leff on September 15, 2024

The government of Pakistan is making a big push to restore permissions for Pakistan International Airlines to return to Europe and the U.K. in advance of privatization of the carrier.

Sources close to the development revealed that the multiple technical sessions have been conducted in the past two days between CAA and EU officials.

These online sessions lasted for several hours, focusing on the steps required to lift the ban on PIA flights in Europe and the UK.

CAA officials shared progress reports, stressing that all the targets set by the EU and UK have been met, and urged the authorities to allow PIA’s resumption in these regions.

The airline believes restoration of service is close enough that they’ve been out catering contracts for Manchester and Birmingham service in the U.K.

Pakistan International Airlines is best known for sacrificing a goat as part of its maintenance procedures and flying with more passengers than seats (and making customers stand for 1700 miles).

More than 30% of the airline’s pilots had fake licenses. Cockpit resource management was virtually non-existent at PIA. The airline was banned from European airspace on June 30, 2020, over its safety-related issues.

Flight attendants run when they land outside the country. If they can get work on a flight to Canada, they’re going to stay in Canada.

Unable to afford even jet fuel, the Pakistan national carrier limited its flight and the government has been attempting a sale despite labor backlash, because privatization threatens running the carrier as a fiefdom and piggy bank of corruption for staff. Previous privatization protests turned violent in clashes with police involving rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas.

Before the pandemic PIA announced plans to fly to the U.S. starting in 2020, and even claimed the U.S. would allow them to handle their own security.

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