Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has taken action against Deputy Station Manager Javed Iqbal Bajwa in Birmingham after an investigation revealed he used fake educational qualifications, according to ARY News. Bajwa was found to have submitted a fraudulent intermediate certificate.
PIA discovered this after sending Bajwa’s educational documents for verification. Consequently, the airline issued a show-cause notice, giving Bajwa seven days to provide a written response and proof of the authenticity of his certificate. The notice warned that failure to do so might lead to disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly’s standing committee on aviation announced on July 6 that the process to privatize PIA is nearly complete. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) currently operates 22 out of 43 airports, including 13 international ones, but has faced budget constraints for several years. As a result, the CAA uses outdated second-generation equipment, while developed countries use the latest third-generation technology.
The National Assembly’s aviation committee has called for improvements in the aviation sector, emphasizing the need for better food services and more courteous staff behavior towards passengers.
In related news, the Pakistan Meteorological Department plans to enhance its weather monitoring capabilities with the installation of new radars and weather stations. The upgrades, funded by the World Bank, include five new radars in Quetta, Dera Ismail Khan, Cherat, Gwadar, and Lahore, as well as three mobile radars and 300 automatic weather stations.
