Does Kirmani have a plan

[allmyfamilyinpia]

Assalmu Alaikum all.

I am just thinking out aloud, and am not trying to flame although it may come across as that.

To my untrained eye it seems like a lot of stuff introduced by PIA these days seems haphazard.

Half off if you standby. 25% off for international
Then pick and drop facility for business passengers.
home delivery of tickets.

Is the first measure not going to kill yields. so you are gonna fly a full aircraft so what. I can fly a full aircraft if I give free seats.

The pick and drop facility is a nice to have, but is it generating any loyalty.
Most ppl get dropped and picked from the airport by relatives anyway in Pakistan. That is why you dont see parking facilities there like you see them here in the US. Additionally a well to do businessman has a driver in Pakistan here, unlike here in the US.

I have heard that Avis is billing PIA for the number of ppl reserved in business and there is no check if the person actually used the Avis service upon landing.

Is it rather naive to assume that those who are travelling PIA have access to a computer. So instead of doing home delivery, a boarding pass can be printed online with bags checked later. or maybe go the mobilink model where a boarding pass/eticket can be printed by certain merchants selected by PIA. This gets the customer a close point of getting the ticket ( if he doesnt have a pc) and is prolly cheaper than home delivery.

I also have heard some stuff about Kirmani's behavior, but I want to discuss Kirmani the Ceo and not Kirmani the person.

What am I trying to get at really with this post is,

Is there a method to this madness. How do all these promotions and incentives fit together to bring greater profit for PIA.

[CombiFan]

Aviation is a complex and multidimensional business, Kirmani thinks its all abut distribution, as in oil. However, the 25percent standby discount on international sectors seems to be working fine as it basically sweeps the market to get the cheap fare seekers on board. It is specially effective in low seasons when load factors are dismal.

His problem is that he is relying too much on those "wet behind the ears" MBAs, he has inducted. Nothing wrong with inducting them, but not letting them rough it out in the field and giving them office jobs in Head Office so early in their careers will not groom them into well honned aviation hands.

Actually, I think he doesnt like to talk to experienced officers, because they say things he doesnt want to hear, or understand.

First quarter losses were equal to losses of entire 2005, 2nd quarter was no better, he keeps blaming everything on fuel and will soon be approaching with a bailout request.

The quy needs to get his head shrunk.

[SaadSaeed]

If its true that there are fresh MBAs at corporate office of PIA then i think K-man is going in the right direction. Yeh, get those old farts out who haven't done much for the airline other than acting like the slow dinosaurs they are. They prevented change for so long and i bet they are resisting it right now. PIA faces tough competition from local airlines now, something these old farts are not used to, so the company needs new ideas and new minds on how to battle the changed situation.

[CombiFan]

The people you are referring to as "old farts" are actually assets of the airline, like I said aviation is a complex business, it takes time to develop an aviation instinct, and there is no shortcut to it.

Sitting in AMS you may think its a swell idea, but these are not graduates of LUMS or IBA, if you know what I mean.

Change comes from the top in corporations, the best combination is an experienced and dynamic CEO and an experienced workwforce. The people you refer to as old farts have never resisted change, can you quote an example of your claim?

As a matter of fact airline is still functioning because of these people, inspite of incompetent CEOs and constant interference of MOD.

[Max]

First quarter losses were equal to losses of entire 2005, 2nd quarter

With one of the highest aircraft to employee ratio, what does he expect? You don’t need an MBA from LUMS to do the simple math. I know its people lively hood we are talking, but if PIA wants those numbers turned around, we have to bring that ratio down.

[CombiFan]

You people miss the point, aircraft to employee ratio is a misleading figure, more meaningful is percentage of revenue going to payroll.. On that score PIA's stats are better than the industry average.

Everybody can be a monday morning armchair quarterback but you cant judge unless you have palyed the game.

[ord]

You people miss the point, aircraft to employee ratio is a misleading figure, more meaningful is percentage of revenue going to payroll.. On that score PIA's stats are better than the industry average.

Everybody can be a monday morning armchair quarterback but you cant judge unless you have palyed the game.

CombiFan,

I see what you are saying about long time employees having indepth knowledge of the company and their knowledge is an asset. But it is also true that these long-term employees can become cacooned in to a certain corporate cultue over time. This happens to a certain extent in all large companies, but it seems to be particularly severe at state owned companies.

I would argue that yes use the knowledge and expertise of the older employees, but also bring in some fresh out of the box thinking. Fresh MBAs serve that purpose very well. They should also try to induct people from other industries/businesses in Pakistan.

While the financial figures are indeed bad for the past financial year, there has been a 21% increase in topline revenues for the financial year passed. That is a phenomenal increase and combined with new initiatives like the 3x KHI-STN operatioin, foucus on new potentially highly lucrative new routes such as GLA, a medium-term fleet upgrade/rationalization plan will serve the airline well in the years to come.

The days when you started your job in one business and stayed with that organization until retirement are fast fading and PIA must adapt. These days, comanies routinely look out side their own field to hire management.

Ford recently announced its new CEO will be Alan Mullaly, a long-time senior manager at Boeing.

[tugmaster]

If its true that there are fresh MBAs at corporate office of PIA then i think K-man is going in the right direction. Yeh, get those old farts out who haven't done much for the airline other than acting like the slow dinosaurs they are. They prevented change for so long and i bet they are resisting it right now. PIA faces tough competition from local airlines now, something these old farts are not used to, so the company needs new ideas and new minds on how to battle the changed situation.

Can you name one airline(comparable withPIA) which is managed by young farts at decision makers' level?

[flyingsystem]

We need "old" and "new" people to manage PIA. If the current "old" ones are not doing well their job, so they have to be replaced by "old" experienced people.
The "big" managers have always to be experienced people. But any company needs young people, because they are perhaps more "creative" etc.

[SaadSaeed]

When i say 'old farts' i mean people who have been in their position for years and have stayed there for years. (not actual old guys) Yes, that can be counted as loyalty to the company, but even more important aspect i think is productivity. The PIA of tomorrow will need to battle with the Airblue of today which is already doing a good job. Airblue isnt the Tabbani group, they arent bhoja air, they have something unique which PIA doesnt. Unless the current "experienced' people give way to more "creative", energetic, full of new ideas, dedicated, service oriented fresh brains, things will not change for PIA.

Sitting in AMS i may be passing out gas here on this board, but my perspective is someone looking at the situation from outside and after having studied what running a business is about. I agree with most of you on the point that you need experienced people in a company, but it seems in PIA everyone is experienced! Dinosaurs resist change by nature.

Fresh ideas should not come just from LUMS or IBA, they should also come from outside, from people who know what the "I" in PIA stands for and what purpose it SHOULD serve.

[CombiFan]

Well, its been a while since anybody posted on this thread, what do you think now?

[fatah]

Initially the hype about Kirmani was that he was the man who turned around PSO(Pakistan State Oil) However the turnaround was actually done by Shaukat Mirza who was killed. Kirmani was thrust into the job as Chairman PSO and he really had it easy as the results of Shaukat Mirza restructuring were bearing fruit.
Kirmani completely disappointed me the day I saw him on Business Plus giving an interview and stating that no airline in the world can make money with fuel prices above $60 a barrel. I was like what a great excuse. Obviously he is now saying this crap to mislead everyone that, there is nothing wrong with his performance.
I mean we have Air Blue who also has to bear the brunt of high oil prices, who by the way are not subsidized by the taxpayer. Meanwhile PIA gets billions of our taxpayers money and the result is billions of further losses.
Either the government should get serious about cutting the fat at PIA or it should privatize it.

[F27]

This thread is almost 60 days old. And see where PIA has been led to by the MBA from IBA.