By Sardar Khan Niazi

For decades, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) symbolized everything that could go wrong with state-owned enterprises: political interference, bloated payrolls, mounting losses, and a collective resignation to failure. Governments came and went and privatization remained a word spoken cautiously. The assumption was simple; PIA was too politically sensitive, too unionized, and too symbolic to touch. With the privatization of PIA, a long-standing misfortune appears to have been broken. This moment matters not because a loss-making airline has exited the public sector, but because it signals a shift — however tentative — in how the state views its role in commercial enterprise. For the first time in years, the government has followed through on a politically difficult economic decision rather than deferring it to the next administration. In a country where reform fatigue is real and credibility is scarce, that alone is noteworthy. PIA once a regional aviation leader, trained staff for foreign airlines and helped launch carriers across Asia and the Middle East. Its fall was the product of poor governance: appointments based on loyalty rather than competence, procurement decisions shaped by rent seeking, and an inability to align costs with revenues. Taxpayers underwrote these failures year after year, even as service quality deteriorated and safety concerns mounted. Money used to keep PIA afloat was money not spent on health, education, or climate resilience. Breaking the misfortune does not automatically mean success. Privatization is a tool, not a cure-all. Much depends on what follows. If the process results merely in the transfer of a public monopoly into private hands without competition, transparency, or regulatory capacity, the gains will be limited. Worse, public skepticism already high will harden into cynicism. The immediate concerns are predictable and legitimate. What happens to employees? Can routes to less profitable destinations be maintained, safety and service........

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