The cabinet has tasked the new chief executive officer of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) with coming up with a business plan by mid-October for turning the national flag carrier into a profit-making company, sources say.CEO Dr Musharraf Rasool Cyan, who took charge this week, has a tough task ahead as he will strive to revive fortunes of the airline that has been facing losses persistently with liabilities swelling to around Rs350 billion.PIA also has to repay billions of rupees to banks to clear its debt. The cabinet set the task for the CEO in its meeting held on August 22.In January this year, the Aviation Division approached the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, seeking an increase in government’s financial guarantees for PIA from Rs151 billion to Rs161.5 billion.To support its case, the Aviation Division pointed out that PIA needed state support to pay loan installments and mark-up amounting to Rs24.94 billion from January to June 2017.The ECC gave its approval to enhancing the government guarantees to enable PIA acquire more bank loans to repay its liabilities. After comprehensive discussions, it was also decided to develop an operational and business plan.In an effort to keep the national carrier afloat, the government has been providing guarantees to clear the way for raising funds from local and foreign commercial banks.While giving the go-ahead to the last bailout package for PIA in January, the ECC also constituted a committee to finalise a strategic business plan for improving financial and operational performance of the airline.The committee held a few meetings, chaired by Ahsan Iqbal, then the federal planning minister, but its findings were not shared with the public.Now, according to sources, the cabinet has directed the new PIA CEO to prepare a business revival plan by mid-October.The cabinet, in its late August meeting, also approved the CEO’s appointment for a period of two years. Cyan will work on probation for 90 days and he will be confirmed for two years after probation based on his performance.Earlier, PIA advertised the vacant top post and in response 11 applications were submitted. Of these, eight candidates were shortlisted after scrutiny.Initial interviews were conducted on June 16, 2017 which led to the shortlisting of three aspirants. They were called for the second round of interviews on July 3.After thorough evaluation, the PIA board sent names of the three candidates including Musharraf Rasool Cyan, Muhammad Ijaz Haroon and Muhammad Junaid Younus to the prime minister for picking one of them.The government’s consent was a requisite for the appointment of chief executives in public sector organisations. The premier approved the appointment of Cyan.Published in The Express Tribune, September 9, 2017.Like Business on Facebook , follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.