The government of Pakistan is weighing up its options as it considers how to save ailing PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International) – with some even calling for the national carrier to be shut down altogether, reports local news site Dawn.

A Senate Special Committee on the Performance of PIA convened this week to discuss the future of the airline. The Prime Minister's Advisor on Aviation, Sardar Mehtab Abbasi, said that there were three options: carry on operating at a loss, declare bankruptcy and shut down, or undergo a restructure.

The Committee Chair, Mushahidullah Khan, said that they would prefer to see the airline rehabilitated rather than shut down, adding that "a few good officers at the top could restore PIA's lost glory."

Abbasi was less optimistic. "Top quality people do not come to PIA anymore," he said.

As part of its suite of recommendations, the committee has called for PIA's Board of Directors to be dissolved. It also criticised Acting PIA CEO Nayya Hayat for failing to adequately discipline two pilots who were recently involved in scandals. In one instance, a pilot took a two-hour nap in business class. In another, a male pilot invited a female passenger into the cockpit for the duration of the flight.

PIA has been suffering from charges of mismanagement and corruption for several years. Earlier this year it secured a government bailout worth PKR161.5 billion (USD1.5 billion) to help it pay essential creditors. At that time, its total debt was estimated at over PKR300 billion (USD2.86 billion).