Pakistan grounds Fokker planes after crash

[Abbas Ali]

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) C-130's first scheduled flight from Islamabad to Gilgit was cancelled today. Passengers had boarded the aircraft but the flight was postponed and later cancelled due to bad weather in Gilgit.

[AP-BGJ]

Hello everyone

well honestly i totally agree with mr abbas that the fokker planes deserves a proper send off. they have been faithful servants of PIA and fully deserve proper sendoff.

secondly this whole accident in no way warrant that the fokkers should be grounded. if they are maintained and serviced regularly and can serve even a month i think that should be fine.

and lastly this whole drama which is shaping up that use c-130's on fokker routes.....well isnt it a fuck up on part of PIA or i would say on the decision makers. who would want to travel in a military plane without the basic comfort levels...apart from the comfort levels this wholely shows how strong the PIA is if its decisions r goin to be overridden by the cabinet members there is no use for PIA employing a CEO and other Directors..let the cabinet decide on everything.

and on a personal note frankly i dont rate this record cabinet members of doin something useful for PAKISTAN. for me they r just a bunch of idiots.

cheers!!

[Adnan Anwar]

Exactly, this Fokker drama shows the decision power of PIA, Ministry of Defence makes the decisions not the PIA CEO.

Fokker maybe old or whatever. Grounded of the fleet should have been made by PIA Management not bunch pf jahil MNA's. What the heck they know about aviation.

Second, the investigation is still underway but the grounded decicion has been made due emotional feelings. When are we going to wake and get rid of the Bureacratic BS.

[SaadSaeed]

PIA keeps asking them for cash all the time, no wonder the gov gets to dictate what they do and how.

Good thing is, the old aircrafts have been grounded. Lets look forward to the new era of ATRs and hopefully we can live on.
Before this, i had planned to take fokker flights to the northern areas as i first flew in fokkars back in the 80s so the plane does hold sentimental values to me. But after what happened, i wouldn't step foot in one. Like Ammad said, A disgraceful exit for a splendid aircraft.

The C130 idea sounds like a joke. I know whats next, give passengers war canteen for airline meal, have em jump with parachutes instead of landing... Come on PIA, think like a corporate giant that you are. All jokes aside, i think the intention was right, there is a lack of planes to cover the area, so military is stepping in to provide help.

[Moin]

Hey this is the first time in the history of this country that they have decided to ground a particular old a/c whereas its always been the opposite.

Whenever PIA would retire a particular a/c and induct new replacements, there would inevitably be someone bellyaching about how much longer those old planes could have flown etc etc.

Now the tables have turned. Lets see how long it lasts.

[Abbas Ali]

PIA may lose revenue on grounding of Fokkers

KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan International Airlines Tariq Kirmani said on Thursday revenue of PIA would drop because of grounding of Fokkers for passenger flights and using other planes for this purpose.

But there would be a very little fall in revenue, he said while replying to queries of reporters after speaking to members of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry. PIA would use two C-130s of air force for its Islamabad-Gilgit and Islamabad-Chitral flights, he added.

Denying reports, he said the crashed plane was not overloaded and there were three empty seats in the Fokker. Besides, there was little quantity of cargo in the aircraft.

“It is not that only we are operating Fokkers. Still around 450 Fokkers are operating throughout the world. Our navy and air force are also using Fokkers,” he said. The Fokkers are airworthy, but where there is man and machine there is possibility of accident, he said.

He said all flights of PIA were operating normally. PIA has procured seven ATR planes. One has already been delivered. Two will be delivered by the end of this year and the rest would be here by June next year.

Fokker manufacturers and other experts have been contacted and they would be coming to the country for investigating the causes of the crash, he said.

He said PIA had prepared an emergency response plan four months ago, which made it possible to effectively deal with the situation after the crash.

Earlier in his presentation to the KATI members, he said that fuel hedging was very important to cope with fuel price hike and it should have started three years ago.

“We are working on fuel hedging. We have got the approval of the government and the State Bank of Pakistan for this,” he said.

He said fuel price remained the biggest challenge for the aviation industry and if it stayed at the current high levels, it would have an adverse impact on the airlines.

He said there were hardly eight to ten airlines, which were making profits in the current situation where fuel price had touched unprecedented levels. “If prices stay at the current levels, probably no airline would be making profits,” he said.

He said the domestic market share of PIA grew from 45.9 per cent in April 2005 (when he took charge of the national flag carrier) to 68.1 per cent in Jan-May 2006.

International market share grew from 43.3 per cent in April 2005 to 49.5 per cent in Jan-May of 2006, he added.

He admitted that the performance of the airline in the cargo business needed improvement.

Chairman of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry Gulzar Firoz said that PIA should enhance its competitiveness in cargo business. Particularly, he said, cargo rates for European destinations were very high. He said when season of any particular fruit comes, PIA tended to ignore its regular customers.

Patron of KATI S M Muneer said the businessmen community could give a lot of cargo business to PIA, if it provided incentives.

Source: The News

[Abbas Ali]

I heard on a TV news channel that PAF is not only going provide its C-130s but some other aircraft types also for passengers flights to Northern Areas. I guess PAF's twin engine CN-235s will also operate some of these flights.

[umair_ayaz]

Is Pakistan International Airlines an autonomous organization or subsidiary of the Ministry of Defence?

The decision of grounding Fokker Friendship F-27 aircraft, by the dim-witted and illiterate Pakistani cabinet is literally a slap on the face of PIA, which decided to continue F-27 flights despite the Multan tragedy. It exposes hollow slogans of Pakistani leadership of institutional progress and liberty in the country. It’s yet another example of dictatorship and tyranny that has haunted our motherland for more than 40 years.

Fokkers do deserve a grand farewell for the services they’ve rendered for the Pakistani national flag carrier. Kicking their butts out the fleet is not at all just for the aircraft that has been there through thick and thin for more than 30 years.

Yes, are ageing up and do need replacement but a single crash of an aircraft type doesn’t mean that rest of the Fokker fleet should crash during flight. Letting aside the fact of human error, what if God forbid a B777-200LR would have crashed? Had the cabinet demanded immediate grounding of the newly purchased B777-200LRs?

It all happens in life…you can not live the World of imagination, where life goes on according to you wishes and aspirations…We must stop day-dreaming…wake up and live in the real world!

[Abbas Ali]

On following page of www.fokkerservices.com I found a nice little video celebrating fifty years of Fokker F-27.

http://www.fokkerservices.com/page.html?ch=DEF&id=10641

The sound of Rolls Royce Dart engines in this video will refresh the memories of many PIA F-27 passengers and pilots.