Biman's unbridled corruption

Biman's mismanagement is proverbial and its financial indiscipline a classic example of how not to run an airline. It has come to represent a shell that is nothing but a cipher and almost everyone that is anyone of import in Biman has drank from its cup of manna down to the dregs with very few takers of what is left of it.

A recent report of the blatant corruption tells us why the national carrier is taking a nosedive. The inflated cost of purchases, from food items to spare parts where more than thirty times the actual cost has been realised in certain instances, to buying of aircraft, the level of corruption that has been resorted to is unbelievable but unfortunately true. It indicates the close and deep nexus of managers at all levels without whose acquiescence such practices in a corporation like the Biman would not be possible.

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If corruption fetters the airline from taking off, the practice of commercial factor being subordinated to political and personal considerations in running its operation is another reason why it has been suffering losses in revenue continuously. One is at a loss to accept that there is not an iota of accountability and a total absence of corporate culture that should be present in such an organisation. One has not heard of any managerial staff of Biman being taken to task or subjected to disciplinary action in spite of the many instances of corruption and gross financial irregularities in the airline. Thus one is forced to surmise that the allegations that government high-ups are involved in Biman corruption perhaps are true.

Biman has been riddled with problems. With a grossly top-heavy administration, a highly distorted aircraft to manpower ratio and lacking in sound leadership that is further weighed down by bureaucratic meddling from the top, with multifarious trade union bodies, whatever may be the strategic planning of the government regarding its future, for the time being appropriate measures must be put in place before Biman plunges irretrievably down the precipice.