PM appoints Dr Musharraf Rasool Cyan as new PIA chief: sources

KARACHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif late Friday appointed former bureaucrat Dr Musharaf Rasool Cyan as Pakistan International Airlines' new Chief Executive Officer.

The summary to appoint Cyan as the national airline's chief was approved in a meeting between Adviser to the PM on aviation Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi and the premier on Friday, sources told Geo News.

Cyan — who has no prior aviation experience — was selected from the pool of three names suggested for the position, sources said. He holds a degree in medicine from King Edward Medical University, Pakistan, and a master’s degree from University College, London.

The newly appointed CEO served in the civil services for fifteen years before resigning and moving abroad, sources said.

The new PIA chief is an American citizen and has worked for 20 years in the areas of public services, fiscal decentralisation, tax reform and development planning, and later moving his research into public health with a focus on designing and assessing the efficacy of solutions to address achievement lags in health outcomes for underserved populations.

He has consulted for organisations including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and United Nations and has worked as a local administrator and chief economist in Pakistan. He has also worked on public sector reform and policy in Nepal, Egypt, Macedonia, Nigeria and Rwanda.