Expression is an art that carries the power to create, shape an opinion or a perception. Communication is the only tool that has the ability to let your message spread across the audience, provided the communication is handled effectively.

Public Affairs Team at PIA has re-energized itself to strengthen the communications at PIA both internally and externally. It is in this regard that Public Affairs team has made an effort to touch base all the departments at PIA to come forward and showcase their silent achievements across PIA.

Public Affairs Department is the gatekeeper of the organization’s outlook; hence, it is imperative to establish a close netted internal communications network that would produce greater transparency, a culture of knowledge sharing and an opportunity to abridge the communications gap between the management and the employees.

Join us in assisting to transform PIA into a constructively strong communications company.

Regards Maryam Baqir

Issue April 2016 Welcome Edition EDITORIAL NOTE

INSIDEMeet Bernd Hildenbrand

Emergency Response Planning – A prior Preparation Plan

Marketing Division introduces Automated Process against Fraudulent/FictitiousBookings

Deep Cleaning Mission by the Cabin Maintenance Division

PIA’s Employee to aircraft ratio reduces to 390 per Aircraft – Corporate Planning

Employee of the Quarter, Mr. Anis Ahmed Khan

Flight Operations Introduces a Paperless Cockpit Evolution

IT Department

HR Overview

The National Carrier Pays Tribute to the National Hero

BREAK

THROUGH

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SOLDIERS AT THE BATTLEFIELD

Soldiers at the Battlefield

Chairman’s Message

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Chairman’s Message

Dear Colleagues

I am pleased to reach out to communicate with the PIA’s community, which consists of some of the most professional, hard working and dedicated employees that any airline can be proud of. What makes PIA a great organization is its rich past and its contribution in expanding our country’s air links with the outside World.

Our airline can boast of having set many newer standards in the global aviation market during its formative and earlier years. However,

with the passage of time, our national airline has lost the glory that it once cherished.

I firmly believe that the time has finally come to turnaround our airline and once again make it as the most successful carrier and a commercially viable entity of our country. That’s why the recent management efforts have been to increase the number of aircraft in our fleet, control the revenue leakages, provide equitable opportunities to everyone based on merit and bring rationalization to the routes that we have been operating. I am glad to say that majority of our colleagues and workers at every level are putting in their best and the results of these efforts have already started showing.

In the days to come, the focus of our efforts would be to improve the functioning and structure of our corporate entity to work efficiently according to the requirement of the modern world. This will include introduction of IT systems, bring efficiency in our system to avoid further leakages of revenue, transparent procurement to save the meager resources of the entity and merit based selection for any task or job that comes up on future course. We may not be perfect at the start but I can assure you that our decisions shall be unbiased and for the improvement of the organization. I would need your cooperation and support to overcome the difficulties that our organization is confronted with. Lets work for our beloved airline and lets prove to the world and the critiques that we are second to none.

While I plan to engage with various representatives of our community and stakeholders in the coming days so as to seek guidance from their perspectives about the future path of our corporation, however this newsletter is the most suitable medium to share our views and outlook about how to success fully undertake the task of our revival. Our communications team, therefore, would be engaged with you more proactively through this newsletter so that our engagement becomes more engaging and purposeful to help the top management in shaping mutually beneficial policies for all our stakeholder.

CHAIRMAN PIASquadron Leader (Retd) MUHAMMAD IRFAN ELAHI

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Meet Bernd Hildenbrand

Mr. Bernd Hildenbrand, a German national, has recently joined PIA as the Chief Operating Officer of the national airlines. He is an accomplished airlines professional with over 30 years of airline industry experience to his credit. Before joining PIA, he was stationed in Singapore as the Director of Operations and Airport Services for Asia and Pacific region at Lufthansa Airlines.

During his extended career, Mr. Brend has not only worked in many operational and organizational areas specific to an airline but has also overseen the airport and cargo management services. During his airline industry service, he has the distinction of serving in many regions of the World, such as North America, Africa, Far East and South Asia.

Mr. Bernd's induction into PIA has been aimed at transforming PIA into a vibrant and successful airlines. Since his joining, he has already brought many visible changes in PIA, which speak volumes about his eagerness to accept the challenge of turning around our national airline.

Interview:

PIA Times:What are the three most important priority areas concerning PIA at the moment?

Bernd:PIA has to instantly work on three things: One, we need to study and understand our core business and subsequently improve the services that we offer. Two, we have to improve our cost situation, and three, we need to motivate and train our staff and adopt a customer friendly approach as part of our overall culture. We need to develop a culture that motivates the employees down the lane and that could impact our output at the same time.

PIA Times:Can you explain each of the priority areas and how you would like to bring a change in them?

Bernd:Firstly, an airline's business is all about passenger services and customer satisfaction. In order to become an airline of choice for our potential passengers, we have started to make improvements in our service chain, proving an end to end service. The whole service has to be checked and all parts have to be improved-from booking/reservations to flight services to punctuality to route connectivity, the baggage delivery, catering and above all the flight safety etc. All of these areas have been under improvement and examination to experience a holistic change.

Secondly, in terms of cost reduction, We would need to be extra careful in terms of making spending decisions and spend only where it is absolute necessary without compromising on our safety. Our very first step has to be to study all contracts of PIA and re-negotiate these contracts, wherever possible.

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PIA Times:

How would you aim to enhance airline's passenger volumes?

Bernd:

We are continuously enhancing our fleet size. In the recent past, PIA has achieved a sizable amount of Fleet in a very short period of time. Considering the demographics of Pakistan and one of the greatest potential for PIA is the large Pakistani community and diaspora living across the globe that could bring us a good chunk of revenue. I want PIA to be the biggest, and the best airline of Pakistan. For this to happen, we have to also improve and increase our fleet.

PIA Times:

Considering your long background in airport services, what visible improvement would you like to see in PIA?

Bernd:

One of the most visible thing that I would personally want to do would be to improve our airport lounges. The upcoming Islamabad airport shall be a great start for us in setting up some of the new and advance airport facilities. This would function as a hub that connects us to the rest of the world. However, I would like to bring in rapid improvements in all our airport lounges and focus on pampering loyalty programs for the customers.

PIA Times:

Would you like to give any message to the readers of PIA Times?

Bernd:

I would like to urge the PIA community to focus on our customers and guests. They are the ones who would move our business. Our passengers are our revenue and they give their lives in our hands and that obligates us to be responsible professionals and make everyday contribution. I would welcome the input from every staff member and would welcome them to share their ideas in order to assist us in improving our airlines.

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Emergency Response Planning is often an overlooked area of concern worldwide. It is a system that is valued the most at the time of any kind of Emergency encountered to a business. Emergency Response facility is one of the exclusive facilities that reside only with PIA amongst the domestic airline carriers. Emergency Response Planning at PIA entails a set of actions/tasks to be executed immediately at the time of any unpleasant incident faced to the Airline that may impact the Airline’s future.

“It isn’t an easy task to be 24/7 on standby mode to deal with worst comes worst situation. A continuous training imparted to various concerning departments across PIA on periodic basis is the fundamental step in creating awareness to deal with the unexpected crisis situation. Periodic mock sessions at both domestic and international stations including Bankok and Toronto are held to keep ourselves on the toes and proactive to combat difficult situation,” says Captain Amir Aftab, Chief Pilot Safety.

He added, “Our well equipped infrastructure setup comprising of Emergency Response Centre, Emergency Call Centre and Media Response Centre have been appreciated by other leading airlines and we may outsource our facility and services to the interested airlines upon their interest; Although, with deepest prayers and hope I wish there never comes a time that we may require to active this service.”

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EMERGENCY RESPONSE CENTRE

ERC Journey starts in December 2005ERC shifted to new Safety & QA

building in May 2011

Emergency Response Planning – A Prior Preparation Plan

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CHITRAL PESHAWAR

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KUALALUMPUR MOEN JO DARO

BANGKOK TORONTO

Emergency Response Training to Station Team Members conducts Table Top Exercises on periodical basis at all PIA stations as an essential ERP requirement to fulfill the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) Org 4.1.13 compliance besides a practical mean to ensure effective response by the Station Teams at the hour of need.

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ERP TRAININGS & TABLE TOP EXERCISES

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Comfort and cleanliness within an aircraft are two of the best selling points that the airlines mostly boast about. A neat and clean fleet results in greater passenger satisfaction.

Recognizing the above, the Cabin Maintenance Division, under its Chief Engineer Mr. Rasheed Ahmed has initiated an aggressive drive to clean up PIA's entire fleet one by one. “Almost all 320 aircraft have been thoroughly disinfected, cleaned and refurbished.”

Sharing the challenges of cleanliness, Mr. Ahmed expressed “More than the cleaning activity itself, the biggest challenge has been to inculcate the highest level of cleaning standards within the cleaning team. Once the cleaning men at work were made conscious of the expected standards of cleaning of our aircraft and its impact on passengers’ choices, the results have been evident to all.”

Cleaning is a continuous job and unless it is not done regularly, the aircraft accessories start deteriorating, which could not only prove expensive to replace, but may also impact negatively on PIA's brand.

In order to streamline the cleaning system, the Cabin Maintenance Division has developed a checklist mechanism that involves a detailed insight to the cleaning of the aircraft such as the identification/marking of the aircraft and categorise the required cleaning in different actionable areas, such as; general cleaning, seat cleaning, galley cleaning, lavatory and cockpit cleaning besides sign art and painting work. In addition, the components of cabin's technical accessories like the hat racks, locking handles, shroud etc are also brought back to the desired level of functioning.

“The purpose of the improved cleanliness drive is to refurbish our fleet's outlook which could compliment the flight services, thereby strengthening PIA's overall brand image.” However, he said that the clean-up drive can deliver only to a certain extent, as the replacement of many old accessories, such as faded play cards, seat covers etc., require a certain budget allocation which takes time to materialize.

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Deep Cleaning Mission By The Cabin Maintenance DivisionClean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Clean Up …

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Flight Operations embarked upon an ambitious plan to make cockpits paperless in accordance with international industry practices. The in house skills of IT department were used to develop a state of the art IPAD application. In addition, a complete hierarchy was established to successfully and smoothly run the project. Software from Boeing Company was also purchased which eliminated the need of carrying old fashioned and bulky manuals in the cockpit. This not only resulted in enormous cost cutting for purchasing and printing the manuals for each crew but also causes aircraft to burn less fuel due to load reduction.

Successful Integration of New Equipment (B-777, A-320 & ATR-72) In the Fleet

PIA inducted the largest number of aircraft in a short time period, in recent past. The enormous task of training the crew for aircraft which were new to the fleet, presented Flight Operations Department, an uphill task. It is worth mentioning that crew was trained with in limited resources and meeting all international and regulatory standards, in a record time. This training effort has no precedence in the airline history.

The new fleet inductions, B-777, A-320s and ATR 72s were integrated in to the system by evolving new procedures and all necessary documentation was completed with in time to smoothly run the operation of these aircraft.

Successful Completion of IOSA Audit

PIA Flight Operations successfully completed the IOSA audit with no findings. This proves the highest standards of safety and operational readiness maintained by PIA Flight Operations Department are certified by the World’s leading Audit organization.

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Flight Operations Introduces A Paperless Cockpit Evolution

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Fictitious seat blocking by the travel agents have been one of the red flags that has cost PIA a huge amount of revenue loss over the past years. Flights would go empty or under load by 10 to 20% due to fictitious seat blocking by the travel agents.

In an attempt to protect the revenue and strengthen the system, the Marketing division has introduced an automated process to curb the abusive practices by the travel agencies across the globe. This system of governing the travel agencies would enable PIA to maximize and safe guard the revenue integrity.

Explaining the rationale of the new initiative, Mr. Tahir Niaz, Sr. GM Marketing shared, “Since the start of the monitoring, approximately 70,000 PNRs have been identified and cleaned up on account of duplication/false bookings. As an outcome, the seat load factors has also improved to 80%”. Besides this, he said that we have also been functioning as a police and watchdog over the PIA employees internally who may have been potentially involved in such malpractices related to ticketing and reservations that could affect the airline's revenue generation.

The automated process entails an electronic process of canceling fictitious PNRs through setting up time limit parameters to the reservations from one month to one week.

This stringent check and balance system would result in preservation of PIA's revenue per booking.

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Marketing Division Introduces Automated Process Against Fraudulent/Fictitious Bookings

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The loud achievers and the silent workers of the Corporate Planning Department at PIA have been involved in setting the long term organizational goals for PIA. The preparation of long term strategic business plan, technical and financial evaluation of aircraft, feasibility studies, acquisition of aircraft and full flight simulators through purchase/ lease and disposal of airworthy aircraft are some of the core functions of the department.

Year 2015 has been a very happening year for Corporate Planning Department. It is due to the efforts of the department that 08 narrow body aircraft, 02 wide body aircraft and 05 turboprops have been added to PIA fleet during the year; thus increasing the size of PIA fleet from 21 aircraft in 2013 to 38 aircraft in 2015.

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The induction of aircraft has had a positive impact on over all performance of airline. This has resulted in age of PIA fleet to lower to 10.7 years, which previously stood at 16 years. Moreover, PIA’s employee to aircraft ratio before the induction of these aircraft was a critical 790 per aircraft, but now it has come down to 390 per aircraft.

If the department continues to achieve its objectives at current pace, it can be safely assumed that it will undoubtedly uplift PIA’s image as a progressive airline on the way of revival.

“We have had crazy days behind the fleet size that PIA offers today. It has been a collective effort and beyond

the domain of Corporate Planning alone. We surely have more good news to share in times to come as we

are now all geared up for a better tomorrow.”

Director Corporate PlanningMr. Amir Ali

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PIA’s Employee To Aircraft Ratio Reduces To 390 Per Aircraft – Corporate Planning

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The devotion and hard work of the third party contractual workers at PIA cannot be undermined by any scale; indeed, the personnel deployed for the hard core labor jobs in various departments including; cleaning and security are coupled with a bundle of challenges, let alone the fear of losing job.

PIA Times had an opportunity to learn, voice and understand the day to day hardships facing the lady security officers deployed at the head office - staff gate, Ms. Shahida Parveen and Ms. Wajeeha.

“I have been serving as the lady security officer for past six years in PIA. As much as I have developed my association with this workplace and environment, the more little has this place seem to have given us the recognition and understanding to the tough nature of our work. Karachi, the city itself is for the tough and the fittest; however, little would one understand that it takes a little more than just a duty to be placed in an open area (at the gate), exposed to all kinds of extreme weather conditions in a day, including the sand storms, challenging us to work with diligence and vigilance” expressed Shahida while explaining her every day hurdles at work.

She also added, “most of my co workers for this role have been fainted at some point in time and hence left the job due to the severity of the job conditions.”

Wajeeha who has been lucky to complete almost a year in this role said, “ tough job in tough conditions with exposure to vulnerability has made me a strong woman.”

Wajiha and Shahida highlighted that implementing an order for example displaying the employee ID card everyday brings our own job at stake while making the female staff at PIA understand the sensitivity of the security clearance procedure. However, they remain steadfast in their job with utmost sincerity and enjoy their work regardless of the tough working conditions surrounding them. Like they say, “ when the going gets tough, the tough get going”.

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Soldiers At The Battlefield

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Mr. Anis Ahmed Khan, DGM (Shipping Disposal and Logistics) has been awarded as the employee of the quarter Nov’ 15 to Jan ’16 for his strenuous performance during the quarter. Mr. Anis Ahmed, 1981 graduate of NED University in Mechanical Engineering. Mr. Ahmed joined PIA in 1987 as Project Officer at the Precision Engineering Department to monitor the installation and the subsequent operations.

of the Investment Costing Plant for a period of five years. Mr. Anis has the exposure to have served and excelled in the various divisions of PIA. After his well acknowledged contribution in the Precision Engineering Department, Mr. Anis was given the planning responsibility at the Ramp Service Department (RSD) formerly known as the Technical Ground Services for 12 years along with gradual promotion in his cadre to Group 7.

After the De centralization of the stores in 2003, every department initiated its own procurement and He was given the charge of Asst. Manager Procurement in RSD department. However, after the centralization of the stores in 2006, he was asked to remain in the store – P & L for two years. During his service in P & L, he was asked to offer his services in RSD to handle the ongoing problems faced to the department until he returned back to the store. In Feb 2014, he was formally promoted as DGM, Shipping and Disposal, followed by an officiating assignment for almost four years.

“I work for my self–satisfaction and I have always created work instead of waiting for the task to be assigned to me” says Mr. Anis . A. Khan. He shared one of such tasks have been to translate the manual purchase record into digital inventories resulting in higher efficiency at work, a handy method of monitoring the checks and balances and an ease to review the insights of any purchase creating a healthy check and balances.

“PIA carries deficiency in appreciating the employees for their performances, however, in my case, the Director Procurement & Logistics, Air Commodore; Mr. Imran Akhtar Khan has extended his support and appreciation to his team members for their extra ordinary contribution.” Shared, Mr. Anis .A. Khan

Employees bring the best of themselves when they are encouraged, empowered, recognized and appreciated for their work. The management needs to introduce a culture that motivates the employees across PIA and encourage the employees to share their respective success stories before the entire PIA. At times all you need is a pat at your back!

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PIA Pays Felicitations To The Employee Of The Quarter, Mr. Anis Ahmed Khan

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Digital Strategy We have aligned ICT Strategy with PIA’s Business Strategy with clear and established roadmap for moving the effort forward. ICT’s main aim is to help Increase Revenues, Reduce Costs and stop Leakages. ICT Strategy will realign, integrate, and innovate solutions to facilitate lean operations in PIA.

Transformation Office The department is already running a transformation project since the joining of new CIO and has established and activated a transformation office to facilitate oversight and drive our mission forward. The transformation journey we embarked upon six months ago is already showing positive results with achievement of many quick wins.

PIA Website/ App

We are pleased to announce that we are going to unveil a new face of PIA in the digital world, with our new website and mobile applications. In the first phase new PIA Website will be launched followed by smart phone applications which will help us increase direct sales of PIA inventory. The website will have new look, smart features and live content through content management system.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is pervasive in all functions of any modern day airline. We believe that ICT has a driving role to play in our quest to revive our leading position in the airline industry.

“Information and communications technologies (ICT) are critical enabling services for any organization. This has been recognized in the new PIA mission, and ICT is now considered a strategic priority. We have embarked on a Transformation Strategy that provides an exciting vision for how technology can support all aspects of our work and can play a leading role in the overall makeover of PIA.

We are making accelerated efforts; soon we will have a new digital face for PIA through latest website, smart applications, and other multiple initiatives. However the turnaround of an organization cannot be achieved in isolation and requires teamwork at a large scale throughout the organization – which is why we eagerly welcome your ideas, support and collaboration.”

Azhar NawazChief Information Officer

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IT Department

Information Security

As pressing as other operational issues are, the overall security of the system is highly important, equally urgent, with scores of unsecured equipment and processes around the infrastructure containing confidential information. We are committed to achieve a ‘gold standard’ for Data security and information protection.

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Infrastructure and Processes Modernization

We are also working on the modernization of ICT infrastructure, applications and processes. Moving to IP based telephony, adding data center disaster recovery site, PIA contact center revamping, cloud computing, business intelligence and internet of things. Aim is to facilitate our customers through online purchases, self-check-In, self-service baggage handling, Inflight Internet, and more. Similarly we want to facilitate our internal operations through online, integrated, easy and modern applications.

Employee of the Year (ICT Department)

Mr. Muhammad Tousif Shahid, Assistant Manager (Operations Systems) has got over 16 years of experience with PIA, and is a committed, hardworking and intelligent resource at ICT department. He has developed and maintained many applications for desktop, web and smart platforms. PIA Smart Cards for fulcrum staff, Passenger Detailed Information (PDI), Decision Support Systems (DSS), Fuel Management and Analysis System (FMAS), Route Performance and Profitability System (RPPS) and Continuation Training Certifying Staff (CTCS) are few applications to his credit. In recognition of his continuous performance, commitment and skills, Mr. Muhammad Tousif Shahid is named as “Employee of the Year” by the ICT department.

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“You don’t build a business you build people and then people build the business” – Zig Ziglar

A number of steps have been taken by the HR department to enhance the performance, to boost morale of PIA employees and for their well-being, which ultimately contributes to overall operational efficiency and efficacy of the organization. A few of such steps are being enumerated hereunder:

I. Medical facilities have further been augmented by allowing lifetime admissibility of this facility to special children of employees.

ii. A handsome salary raise has recently been granted to staff cadre employees

at the rate of 50% for PG-I and PG-II employees and at the rate of 45% for PG-III and PG-IV employees.

iii. Ad hoc salary raise at the rate of 17% has been granted to Officer cadre employees whereas negotiations are currently underway with the representative association of PIA officers, for a practicable increase in their salaries.

iv. Different motivational courses and trainings have been designed and are being imparted to employees in addition to their regular mandatory courses and trainings w.r.t. their respective trades, with a particular focus on customer services.

v. On the re-organization front, in order to improve customer services level, operational service areas have been bifurcated into separate Directorates. The objective is to achieve increased concentration and focus on those operational areas, which are considered as ‘Customer Touch-points’. In this context, the Passenger Handling Services division has been converted into Airport Services department i.e. an independent Directorate. Similarly, for Ramp Services and Food Services divisions, which have a direct correlation with customer satisfaction, a DMD level officer has been made accountable.

vi. The HR Management realized that most of the employees in PG-V (the entry level officer grade) were de-motivated and disgruntled due to inconsistency in promotion policy. Employees having 12 to 15 years of service in same Pay Group were facing career stagnation owing to HRB restrictions. Realizing this, a one-time Promotion Policy was introduced, by virtue of which, a consented criteria was developed, including but not limited to administration of an aptitude test conducted by NTS, a credible third party testing service provider. Resultantly, about 379 PG-V officers of Admin category were promoted, belonging to different trades of the Corporation.

vii. The minimum consolidated salary for temporary/daily wages workers hired through Manpower contractors/service providers in various departments has been enhanced to Rs. 12,000/- per month.

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HR Team In Full Swing To Optimize Effective EfficiencyAcross PIA Personnel

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viii. Keeping the in view the changing trends in Corporate sector and with the fact that a majority of cars allocated to Corporation’s senior executives had crossed their replacement timelines, the management has revised corporate car policy. The new Car Policy contains policy guidelines for procurement, allotment, transfer and maintenance of cars and fuel entitlements for the Corporation’s executives who are entitled to receive these cars. The hallmark of this policy is that the Corporation’s liability has been brought to a minimum, whereby the cars will now be leased by the contracting bank directly to the executives and PIA’s role and liability will only be limited to crediting the entitled lease rental to the employee’s salary each month; the employee shall be responsible for payment of these rentals along with insurance directly to the bank.

ix. In light of the directives of the honorable Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Management has embarked upon a crackdown on fake degree holders and particular focus is being laid on cleansing the Corporation of such employees. As a result of rigorous efforts, a total of 524 employees have been identified as fake degree holders so far, out of which, 324 employees have already been dismissed from service while cases of 200 employees are currently either in disciplinary proceedings or subjudice in a court of law.

x. After rigorous negotiations, a Charter of Demand presented by the CBA has been approved and being implemented. The salient features of this Charter include salary revision, passage augmentation and career progression related incentives.

All the above measures taken by the management have brought positive results in the shape of raising motivational level and creating a sense of belonging among all levels of employees. Besides, it will also bring marked improvement in the performance of employees. A contented employee contributes positively towards the success of the organization in all its spheres of business and the collective contribution will help to achieve the common objective of turning around the Corporation.

“It is a crucial task for any HR Department to motivate, engage and evaluate each and every employee at par throughout the year. However, HR Department in PIA has taken over both soft and harsh steps varying from case to case, overcoming one of the strongest challenges posed to the corporation.”

Director HR, Rashid Ahmed

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Fighter pilots cherish combat within their souls from the moment they choose one of the lion-hearted professions-the GD pilots in the Air Force. The journey in becoming a fighter pilot entails a series of challenges and may end up in consuming one’s own life.

The fighter pilot pedigree is generally considered tobe the domain of the toughest of men. The mention of a woman fighter pilot evokes a sense of disbelief in one’s mind. However, the recent first-ever loss of life of one of Pakistan’s female fighter pilots Shaheed Marium Mukhtiar, has proved us all wrong.

Marium’s martyrdom has not only made our Nation to acknowledge the existence of female fighter pilots in our country, but her stories of courage, determination and fearlessness, published after her death, have fancied the imagination of our Nation.

Just the way that the name Mariam literally means devotion, submission and determination, the life of fighter pilot Mariam is a testimony of how a frail-framed woman chose to break the social and gender barriers to become an airborne warrior.

After decades of self-imposed embargo, Pakistan Air Force had opened doors in 2003 for women to join the officers and pilots cadre. The fighter pilot training is an intensive physical and psychological training spread over three years-testing one’s mental and physical endurance and agility. Marium, joined the PAF Academy in 2011 and graduated in 2014.

Marium’s passion for extraordinary and arduous life had made her join PAF even though she had been a student of Civil Engineering at NED University of Engineering and Technology. Her passion for fighting against the odds made her convinced to give up engineering studies and join the fighter pilot program where she could apply and demonstrate a combination of both physical and intellectual skill set. It was Marium’s destiny and determination that she picked the hard way to meet the long and endless selection criterion.

Discovering Marium beyond a Woman A woman of Substance, A character & A beautiful Soul

“I love my country and I will go up to any extent to safeguard my country” -

Shaheed Marium Mukhtiar (Tamgha e Basalat)

By Maryam Baqir

“We could sense Marium’s lack of spark and interest for Engineering. Marium was losing the Marium she used to be.” said Mrs. Mukhtiar, a teacher by profession. “We didn’t discourage her because we didn’t want ourselves to be the cause to her rejection, if at all she had not made it to PAF,” she said.

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The National Carrier Pays Tribute To The National Hero….

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Marium’s career at PAF excelled because of her inherent multi-tasking skills performing several tasks at a time. She had picked up soldierly traits from her father a Colonel from Pakistan Army with an admirable career record. Marium perfected these traits with her fondness for unconventional games such as snooker, ONO, table tennis, horse riding and squash etc. While both of these qualities made her an excellent air force officer, however it was her penchant for a perfect military bearing that made her stand out amongst her comrades. She preferred wearing suite uniform over the general Saree uniform worn by the female pilots as she always believed that the suite carried a stronger representation of the officers’class regardless of their gender.

Both Mrs & Col Mukhtiar, Marium’s parents while talking about Marium’s pride as a fighter pilot say “Marium’s transformation into an ideal PAF officer belies our life-time impression about her as a diminutive person-from a baby girl to a grown up adult; but it seems that she reached the epitome of her persona while being in PAF.” Her death has brought them another realization-that they understood their daughter more after she is no more in this World. They recall many of the stories told by Marium’s colleagues, course-mates and superiors about her military life including the stories about her preservance and adventurism. In the aftermath of Marium’s martyrdom, they also came to know about the stories of Marium’s charitable acts-such as the monthly treatment of twin Thalassemia children in Mianwali, and providing educational expenses for a child in Risalpur. Marium’s family recalls many other stories that depict her as a giver in her life. Her sister says that, “Marium used to share happiness, and laugh out loud with everyone while also being naughty and notorious-all at one time.”

For fighter pilots, solo air-borne missions may carry the maximum accidents risks, but on the day of her death, she was accompanied by a surviving co-pilot. Marium’s parents, who always remained tense on the day of her solo-flights, recall that they may have seen the déjà vu when on an earlier 6th September Defence Day event at the Missile Chowk, MalirCantt, Marium had accompanied them to commemorate the defenders and martyrs of Pakistan. To her mother, whatever she witnessed on that day seemed like a memorial rehearsal for their daughter. Even Marium may have foreseen her bereavement beforehand. She wrote a poem titled Martyrdom couple of months before meeting her very own martyrdom.

The Martyr

For the sons who sacrificed their todayWho shattered their dreams, their hopesLeaving behind what could not be brokenThe pride for being a soldierWho gave their life, left behind their siblingsEternalize the spirit of Pakistan in sleeping eyes Lucky are the mothers to have such sonsTheir tears are not idle tears But are the signs of strengthWho never wanted to see the tearsShine in a million other eyesThank God, feel proud, feel honoredThey are still aliveStill in our heartsAn everlasting source of hope and courage

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Col. Mukhtiar, Marium’s dad with welled eyes recalled Marium’s loss of life to his deep belief in destiny and the way life starts preparing us unconsciously beforehand that becomes evident later in life; such was the connection of the famous writer, Charles Kingsley’s poem, The Sands of Dee, that he used to read out to her in her childhood until Marium’s own death became the narration of the poem itself.

“O Mary, go and call the cattle home, And call the cattle home, And call the cattle home, Across the sands of Dee”;

He says that “I now understand the significance of that poem being a focal point in our bond and when I had a lock of Mariam’s hair in my hands at the sight of crash, my conscious immediately recalled this poem to my mind. Marium has spent little time with us but in that little time she had spread joy around us and it is this reason that even today each and every incident related to Marium be it her actions, her conversations, her videos all carry a strong sense of humor in them. We still laugh recalling everything about her yet we bleed to hear from her just once.”

Marium’s elder sister Marvee sensed intuitions about Marium’s crash days before her actual crash. Marvee still in her disbelief expects Marium to appear from somewhere. She found a friend in Marium and a notoriously troubling sibling who would seek love and pampering from her parents from time to time. Narrating one of Marium’s notorious incidents, Marvee explains that on the wedding of their real uncle, Marium smartly picked and wore Marvee’s outfit of that evening instead and appeared at the event. While recalling the incident, Marvee in deep grief told, “I wish if she could have offered her more than just a dress.”

As a fighter pilot, while she had vowed to give life for the country, but her martyrdom and the posthumous award of Tamgha-e-Basalat is her life-time gift to her parents as she has always been at the giving end. “If I get another chance to have Marium back, I would still ask her to join PAF again” says Marium’s proud mother. This sums up the mettle that Marium was composed of, and the nurturing that she received from her parents.

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PIA TIMES

PIA TIMES