The parliamentary standing committee on government undertakings has put the blame on Biman's internal mismanagement and irregularities for the poor show, while Biman officials attribute it to fuel price hike and strident trade unionism.

The committee also blamed Biman for giving false and inaccurate information regarding itself. The charge clearly points not only to mismanagement but also to attempts at hiding it. A great number of audit objections against the airline is still pending and Biman managers have not even mentioned the amount of money involved in more than 1,400 audit objections in their report. Again, what we get is a picture of a mess caused by corruption and mismanagement leading to the huge losses.

Biman has not had a smooth cruising in recent years with reports of controversial purchases and poor performance in many areas blurring its image. It has claimed that none of its aircraft is out of order at the moment, but has not said anything about the two planes that crash-landed recently. As for purchase, civil aviation experts seem to believe that there was always scope for the national airline to look for better options. Its safety standards and capability to maintain schedules have also not been above question. What is at issue is that the airline, besides being a commercial organisation, is a symbol of national pride which is greatly undermined when it performs so poorly.

Biman definitely needs to be bailed out of its present crisis triggered by mismanagement. Obviously, the ailing airline has to be overhauled and private capital has to be infused into it for its survival. The decision-makers should examine the various possibilities open to them to turn the closed, government-run enterprise into a viable commercial proposition. After all, the findings of the parliamentary standing committee do suggest that things cannot be left where they are at the moment.