Biman deserves to be booed and blamed

Biman Bangladesh Airline, the national flag carrier, is seemingly booed and blamed round the year either for irregularities, corruption, nepotism, incompetence or for plundering public funds and risking passengers’ safety.

This time it is the audit objections raised by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB). Biman is buried under 49 objections in two major categories — operational 39 and airworthiness 10. Biman never fails its bashers as it has turned into a cesspool of corruption.

It inaugurated loss-making routes with much fanfare in the name of experiment, appointed pilots who were proved incompetent and deprived its own pool of pilots of promotion and due treatment.

Every time the media raises the issues and asks relevant government officials or even responsible ministers for a way forward, the answer is restricted to “looking in the matter” or “give us proof we will take action”.

Media are not enshrined to give intelligence about all these anomalies to the government so that it can punish the culprits. For intelligence, the government has different types of agencies to cater to.

However, in the audit report, CAAB identified objections in areas of Air Operator Certificate Management and Finance (two), flight operations (seven), cabin safety (14), airworthiness (ten), flight dispatch (two) and dangerous goods (four).

In the audit report, CAAB expressed concern about its failure to fully comply with the process, procedures and guidelines that are specified in the company operations manuals.

It was also found lacking in maintaining Boeing 737.800 and Boeing 787.8 Dreamliner aircraft. The airliner deployed its new recruits in different assignments without necessary training.

It is high time Biman addresses the audit objection and designs a necessary corrective action plan to stay competitive against fellow airlines in the world with a vision and mission so that it can stand tall among its peer airliners.