Editorial
Stop Biman from being a milch cow
Wrest the national carrier from the clutches of the vested quarters
The civil aviation minister's remarks on the state of Biman in particular, and tourism in general in Bangladesh, say it all. In his rather rueful comments one noticed more than an element of resignation when at a recent seminar on civil aviation and tourism he said that vested quarters have made Biman what it is today -- a symbol of inefficiency and failure. Its viability as a commercial undertaking has been greatly dented, according to him, by the corrupt and dishonest practices of some powerful quarters, both inside and outside Biman.
We had been an unfortunate witness to the plunge of the national carrier, that had earned a degree of international repute in spite of many limitations in the late 70s and 80's, to the nadir of its incompetence and ineptitude in the last two decades. We can only sympathise with the minister and add that Biman has been a golden goose for the powers that be during every regime since our liberation, and it has perhaps laid the last of its golden eggs. And until something is done urgently, its moribund state may assume permanence.
However, we should to take some hope from the assurance held out by Mr. Quader that measures are afoot to reform the airline, and eliminating corruption and undue influence are two of the actions on the priority list. But there are a few more "must dos" without which it will be well nigh impossible to make Biman a viable concern.
The management must work to recover much of its lost ground to foreign operators. It is unacceptable that 80 percent of the local market is hogged by foreign airlines. And it has been lost due primarily to poor operational competence of Biman and shortage of aircrafts. Punctuality is not its only flaw. Tickets were sold behind the counter and artificial shortage was created from time to time to hike the price of tickets. Quite often one was told at the counter that the flight was full while in fact the aircraft was operating sometimes with less than half its passenger capacity. The in-flight service had lost its sheen since the comfort of the passengers had stopped mattering very much to the cabin staff, and the less said about the general condition of ground service the better.
The current condition of Bangladesh Biman will not countenance any stopgap measures. We feel that a long-term policy must be evolved with short and long term plans to take Biman to an acceptable level of competence. Unnecessary overhead expenses must be curtailed, and man-to-aircraft ratio, that is so horribly skewed, must be righted. Accountability and oversight must be ensured, and violations of rules in purchases must be dealt with severely. And above all, all manner of interferences, most of which come from the politically linked, must be stopped. The minister, we suggest, instead of feeling despondent and helpless must move decisively to remove the deficiencies of the national carrier.
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