A report has said that the younger brother of Waqar Younis, the former captain of Pakistan cricket team and the incumbent head coach, joined the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as a pilot on the basis of "bogus" educational certificates.
The revelation was made at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) during the scrutiny of an audit report on the aviation division. Secretary Aviation Division Mohammad Ali Gardezi and PIA Managing Director Shahnawaz Rehman initially expressed ignorance about Faisal Younis' background. However, after the PAC directed them to reveal complete details pertaining to the identity of the pilot, Gardezi informed the committee that Faisal was the younger brother of Waqar Younis, reported the Dawn.
The report said that the PIA inducted Faisal as a pilot on November 13, 2003, on a five-year contract and spent nearly 35,000 dollars on his initial training.
A verification of his educational record three years after his appointment revealed that his graduation degree was bogus. The audit report said that Faisal was penalised by curtailing his three years' seniority in 2010.
In the meanwhile, Faisal produced a diploma in commerce and argued that it was equivalent to the graduation degree. The report maintained that instead of dismissing the pilot, the PIA management allowed him to operate.
Both the secretary aviation and the PIA managing director defended his appointment by saying that the airline had invested a huge sum of money on Faisal's training and inducted him as a pilot for Boeing 777.
