Adil Najam
The 1960s PIA advertisement that had been featured as the ATP Picture of the Day on 12 June, 2006 is one of the most visited blogpost to date.
We had featured a second PIA Ad from that era on June 24, 2006, which is also interesting but got considerably less attention.
Today, as I prepare to catch my PIA flight to Pakistan (this evening) I thought I might repost it. As we have commented on various occasions, the edge has come off PIA. Sometimes one wonders if the wings will too. I hope they won’t; at least not today!
The crew I will encounter tonight will be wearing a different set of uniforms, but the PIA crew uniform from the 1960s has an interesting pedigree to it. That celebrated uniform is featured in this PIA ad.
According to PIA literature:
In 1966, Pierre Cardin, the renowned French fashion designer, came up with the legendary fawn and moss green summer and winter uniform edged with turquoise. The uniform consisted of a short, easy fitting “A” line tunic, slim-line trousers and imaginatively moulded dupatta that not only covered heads but also turned heads. The uniform became an instant hit, the slim-line trousers immediately were dubbed as ‘PIA Pajamas’. Fashion-conscious young ladies, all across Pakistan, copied Cardin’s design eagerly. This popular uniform design was used by the airline from 1966 to 1975.
Anyhow, combined with the other one, or alone, what–if anything–does this ad say about how Pakistan saw itself; then and now?
I do not have an exact figure of monthly operational losses incurred by “Ba-Kamal Log; la-jawab service”, not to mention ad hoc subsidies for fresh purchases of airplanes. If the monthly figure is Rs1 billion, this amount can be used to construct 50 brand new primary schools or 25 high schools or 15-20 technical schools. However, if the figure is between Rs 3 to 4 billion, the nation is missing out on up to 200 new school per month due to our lopsided priorities. It means if the tax-payers’ money, currently used to run this soup kitchen to keep otherwise unemployable employees employed, is directed to building schools we can have 600 to 2400 new primary schools every year. Just by not running this charity also called PIA we can overcome school shortage in the country in less than five years, assuming the subsidies to the airlines are continue to grow. Whether PIA serves alcohol or not, our national priorities are no different to a drunken stagger.
PIA has currently a deficit of 1 billion per month.. yes thats right 1 billion per month.
as far as PIA serving alcohol is concerned…I would rather that they didnt do that….
as in my experience most western travellers are looking for a reasonably priced airfare…easy and quick check in…less transits and courteous service like the rest of us…
in my experience…more desis are pining for a strong spririt on an airline that the ‘goras’….
ive lost count of how many times Ive seen Desis get rowdy due to them having had one to many….
and by the way…is it just me or has anyone else noticed just how many male PIA cabin crew members have beards…im not talking short neat beards….but big bushy Taliban beards..??
PIA seems to be making some efforts these days to recapture some of that past glory.
I think that sends the vibes of a nation looking at a bright future , what we have seen after that is a nation looking at gloom, There has been a change in my personal outlook, it has varied from that of optimistic to gloomy to now optimistic again. I find myself gloomy reading today that the SHC had to order a raid commisioner to ” Bazyab ” people from a police station, but optimistic that Supreme court finally has gotten some people out of the clutches of ” agencies”. I think we should celebrate the fact that even in such Lawless circumstances in Pakistan , the court now is doing the right thing. Lets celebrate them as heroes as we need to brighten the horizon, happy flying
I just returned from PIA’s soon-to-go-out-of-service flight from Karachi to Chicago. The highlight of my experience was having a full 2 liter bottle of 7-up spilled on me….my shirt, pants, etc, etc were SOAKING WET.
Anyway, I lived to fly another day on PIA…it’s a decent airline :).
Also about this comment:
“Some of my friends complain that in PIA, they dont serve alcohol. Is it true?
In order to be business friendly they should serve alocohol. This is biggest reason why muslims are lagging behind hindus in hospitality industry( like restuarents) in USA.”
Actually, I’d rather they did not. How far should a country go to make itself more appealing to foreign tourists? From this comment, it seems like the colonized mindset is still raging strong. If PIA brushed itself up and got its act together with reservations issues, prices, service, and punctuality, it will be much better airline….it doesn’t have to start with alcohol….also, I know plenty of non-Muslims who drink and I don’t think anyone of them uses alcohol as a criterion for picking a flight….that being said, it may be your criteria. Sad.
I think there are not many commercial airlines, other than our PIA, which are run by a country’s Defence Ministry. But then I will struggle to name anything of ‘value’ in Pakistan where the professional ‘competence’ of an organization of Defence Ministry has not left its grubby marks. Sell it, even if we have to pay from our own pockets to do it. It will be one off payment, not the annual ‘tax’ the nation has to foot.