Will Biman ever smile?

Abdullah Mohibuddin Last month, the second new Boeing B777-300 ER was added to Biman's fleet. No doubt it is good news for Biman. With two new B777 aircraft, Biman will be able to maintain its schedules now. On hearing the news, I went to Biman's website to read the latest information. I believe that after the publication of my last article on Biman's website, Biman made some improvements. But still there are many things to be added and many unnecessary things to be deleted. Many people complained to me that they have a tough time in getting the correct schedule. Biman says that it is operating direct flights with B777 aircraft, whereas, in the schedule, it says that the flights will be operated with A310 aircraft. Which one is correct? One does not understand what is meant by the offer of 4.0 per cent rebate to passengers who buy tickets online. As you know that passenger will only compare with other airlines fares and nothing else. At present information technology helps to plan, market and save. So a valued passenger will definitely want to have many other facilities besides buying the ticket only. Suppose, I want to buy a ticket from Toronto to London, I would definitely go on line to different websites and find out a comparison of fare on this route. Then I will try to book a hotel room and that too through browsing - than other links will start blinking. Once the ticket and hotel are booked, I will try to find out what the duty free items are available on board and at what prices. And then I will look for cheaper transportation from airport to the hotel. Therefore, a website can help me plan my budget. Such as when I read The Financial Express on line, a number of links starts to blink, but unfortunately, we do not notice the website of Biman. Through The Financial Express newspaper, a large number of Bangladeshis living in Canada and USA are connected. Again when we look at the website of Biman in details, as a passenger or as a valued customer, we would like to know details about Biman's products and services besides ticketing. Therefore, what is a Citizen Charter (are we going for election campaign!) If Biman writes about Flight Catering Centre or keep the Datamart of the Flight Catering Centre or Engineering facilities and keep them in the links, then it will be more productive (instead of Citizen Charter). In other words, Biman must write or put more information about the present facilities and services, it will then attract a lot more customers. Before commencing my journey by Biman flight, if I can log on to the duty free items on board and see its prices then I can order and make payment in advance for the items (this is an added attraction to the passengers). Recently, Biman has reshuffled its Board of Directors as well as the Executive Director. I had the pleasure of congratulating Capt Shafiq as the new Director Flt Operations. May be one day, he will operate the flight to Toronto Pearson Airport. In case Biman management needs any assistance regarding the future operation of flights to Canada, I am here to assist Biman. One should not forget that Canada is now an important country and the size of the Bangladeshi population is over 60,000, so one weekly flight can meet their demand. With the induction of new aircraft, Biman will be able to maintain its flight schedules. Bangladeshi passengers want strict maintenance of the flight schedules and nothing else. Like in the past when DC10s were added to the fleet, in the same way, passengers will jump on board the Biman aircraft whether it is expensive or not. Bangladesh will be 40 years old this month, but Biman till date has failed to fulfil its promises. Capt Nasim (former President of Pilots Association) wrote in an article that there is rampant corruption in Biman. I do not want to go in that direction rather I would request the present management to provide information about the past corruptions--big or small. Since we notice that a judge has been included as a member of the board. Why not he be entrusted with this task? Biman can realise the lost money from the persons found guilty of corruption. There are examples of misuse of power and squandering of Biman's money, for instance, Capt Mofidul and myself (presidents of BAPA and FENA respectively at the time of former aviation minister Mir Naseer) were denied extension of services from 57 years to 60 years without any reason. He did not know how much money was invested by Biman on us (that is on a flight crew). He went further and recruited foreign pilots and flight engineers to replace us. Who is the loser? Of course Biman and the country. I also thought that the parliamentary committee will also look into the past and present activities of Biman management, particularly the procurement of F28 aircraft. Wherever we meet our people, they blame us, no matter how much we try to defend ourselves. But if the corruption was looked into properly, then the picture of Biman and us would have been different. Let us now promise on the Victory Day, that Biman will be entirely corruption-free. Let Biman starts a new journey with a new hope. Wishing Biman happy landings and happy new year. The writer, a retired flight engineer, can be reached at e-mail: abdullahmohibuddin@gmail.com