Summary
- Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been experiencing a trend of flight attendants disappearing after landing in Canada since at the least 2019.
- The motivations behind these disappearances are regarded as low salaries and concerns in regards to the airline’s expected privatization, in addition to Canada’s relatively liberal asylum policies.
- PIA has implemented measures similar to raising the minimum age for flight attendants traveling to Canada and establishing a special unit to analyze the disappearances. The airline also plans to take disciplinary motion against those that abandon their duty.
Recently, one other Pakistan International Airlines flight attendant disappeared in Canada after crewing a flight to the country. This will not be a brand new event as Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) crew members have been abandoning their posts in foreign lands since at the least 2019, even though it seems to have picked up pace recently.
It seems more will follow this practice
On January 19, 2024, Pakistan Airlines International (PIA) flight PK781 departed Islamabad International Airport (ISB) at 16:21, certain for Toronto, Canada. The flight was operated with a 2005 Boeing 777-200LR, registration AP-BGY and MSN 33781. Tracking data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) at 19:47.
Photo: jremes84 | Shutterstock
Earlier in December, Ayaz Qureshi did not turn up for duty after arriving in Toronto from Lahore, while in November, Khalid Afridi and Fida Hussain Shah also went missing soon after arriving in Toronto from Islamabad. The report added
What’s driving this wave of disappearances?
There seem like two schools of thought in regards to the motivation of those flight attendants in abandoning their posts, with one theory being that low salaries for flight attendants and fears about their future as a consequence of the airline’s expected privatization are the principal drivers.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
PIA’s perspective is that Canada’s relatively liberal asylum policies are accountable, and Khan said that
“There isn’t a failure [on the part of the airline] as we’ve tried to place in probably the most stringent possible efforts to curtail that. Nonetheless, the laws of Canada are so liberal that those measures grow to be counter-effective. However, we are actually in search of some legal measures against the perpetrators, involving law enforcement agencies.”
To its credit, PIA has not only accepted the danger of crew absconding, and Khan explained that the airline had attempted to stop the flow by raising the minimum age for flight attendants traveling to Canada, believed to be 50, and establishing a special unit to analyze the disappearances. PIA can be monitoring the situation, and Khan said it’s maintaining a tally of flight attendants to ensure they aren’t engaged in any strange conduct or sending money abroad.
As for disciplinary procedures, the airline said anyone abandoning their duty shall be fired and subject to serious legal motion as soon as they return to Pakistan. Media Line reported that a Shazia Saeed arrived in Paris in 2019 on PK734 and vanished after “sneaking” away from the crew’s hotel, and since then, one other five disappearances have occurred on flights from various cities in Pakistan to Toronto, Canada.
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