Biman continues its downward spiral with its most recent controversy, surrounding the appointment of and promotion of certain officials within the organization, proving once again that the only way forward for our constantly beleaguered national carrier is its prompt privatization.
The decision to reshuffle certain designations within the company at best go against Biman’s own corporate policies which pertain to filling vacant positions with senior officers of the next rank, alongside the incredibly dubious appointment of an official accused of ticket black-marketing to head the company’s marketing and sales department.
Biman as a company has historically been hesitant in the appointment of contractors, however, in the past year close to 20 individuals were brought under contractual agreement according to a recent Dhaka Tribune report. While hiring contractors is not inherently a bad move, given the low return on interests that contractors often pose, the recent spate of contractual recruitment raises a brow.
However, the appointment of individuals who have very clearly been accused of ticket manipulation leaves little room for interpretation: As a company Biman is either egregiously incompetent or corrupt. Either way, the recent appointments demand thorough investigations.
Biman has had a rather checkered past when it comes to its officials leading to a the company becoming a veritable revolving door for its senior managers: Lest we forget, former managing director and chief executive AM Mosaddique Ahmed was relieved of his duties due to complaints of irregularities in the appointment of pilots.
There is no doubt about it -- Biman needs to be privatized and it needs to be made so without delay. As a company, Biman is disastrously close to collapse, which is nothing short of a shame as it is our national carrier and represents Bangladesh to other nations. To that end, Biman has clearly failed.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
