Another Management Crisis Erupts in Civil Aviation Authority

The management crisis in Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) shows no signs of ending. The directors of CAA have filed a petition against the Additional Director General (ADG) of CAA in Sindh High Court.

This is the second revolt by these directors in the last few months. Before that these directors also rebelled against the CAA Director General and forced the government to remove him from the post.

Sources told ProPakistani that several directors of CAA, including Director Human Resource, filed a petition in Sindh High Court against the ADG Air Vice Marshal Usaid-Ur-Rehman Usmani. Director Human Resource, Samir Saeed, is leading the group.

Sadiq Ur Rehman, Malik Mazhar Hussain, Tariq Mehmood, Muhammad Zahid Bhatti, Kamal Raza, Nadir Shafi Dar, Syed Amir Mehmob, Amir Habib Sikander, Khawar Ghawas, Syed Nasir Ali, Rabia Salma, Syed Muzaffar Alam and Muhammad Anwar are also included in the petition.

In their petition, CAA directors said that Air Vice Marshal Usaid-Ur-Rehman Usmani is a serving officer of Pakistan Air Force, a serving officer cannot become the ADG. It is worth mentioning here that this petition was filed 2 years after the appointment of Air Vice Marshal Usaid-Ur-Rehman Usmani as ADG.

The petitioners also asked the court to prevent CAA’s management from taking action against the petitioners.

Earlier, the Federal Government appointed Hassan Baig as the new Director-General of CAA. This post was empty for the last few months. These directors revolted against DG CAA Asim Suleiman and created a management crisis. On the pressure of these officers, the Government did not consider Asim Suleiman’s contract extension.

Sources claim that this rebel group is facing serious charges of financial corruption, recruitment against the code and administrative irregularities. They are scared that the new DG and ADG could transfer these officers and start an internal investigation against these directors. To safeguard themselves, the directors moved this petition in Sindh High Court.

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) also expressed its anxiety on this ongoing management crisis in CAA Pakistan. According to ICAO, this situation could hamper the regulatory environment of the aviation industry in Pakistan and affect the decision making in CAA.