‘Thank you, PIA’, a cabin crew member of Pakistan International Airlines went missing after landing in Canada on PIA flight PK-782 from Islamabad. Dawn reported that Maryam Raza didn’t report for her return flight PK-784 to Karachi from Toronto even though she was on duty.
Authorities checked her hotel room and found her uniform with a note reading ‘Thank you, PIA’. She was assigned a flight from Islamabad to Toronto on Monday.
Maryam Raza joined the national flag carrier about 15 years ago. Notably, this is the second case this year. The airline’s spokesperson attributed the trend to the flexible Canadian law, which offers asylum upon entering the country.
An air hostess failed to report for the return flight from Canada last month, which was a similar incident. At least seven PIA cabin crew members went missing in Canada last year while on duty, as per Dawn reports.
An air hostess named Faiza Mukhtar arrived in Canada in January, but she didn’t show up for her return flight. The attendant was suspended a few years ago due to allegations that she was involved in smuggling foreign currency and cell phones.
“On its scheduled return to the country, Ms Mukhtar did not turn up [in Toronto and the flight of the national flag carrier had to proceed without her,” a PIA official said as quoted by Dawn.
He also informed that a crew member who had absconded while on duty a few years ago has since relocated to Canada and is now advising other crew members to consider applying for asylum.
The PIA management has been coordinating with the Canadian authorities to avoid such incidents in the future, he said.
PIA CREW MEMBERS SEEKING CANADA ASYLUM SINCE 2018
Maryam and Faiza’s disappearances are a worrying trend for the PIA, which is facing financial and credibility losses.
The disappearance of Maryam marks the second such incident in 2024.
It’s probably no longer the PIA that Jacqueline Kennedy called, “Great people to fly with”, in 1962. That has become the slogan of PIA since then.
In fact, Pakistan isn’t the same Pakistan as it was in the 60s. Surviving on loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and international doles, Pakistan has seen a record brain drain in 2023. Uncertain about their future in Pakistan, skilled professionals are leaving the Islamic Republic in large numbers.
According to Simple Flying, the trend of Pakistani flight attendants disappearing after crewing a flight to Canada began in 2019 and has been increasing recently.
However, The Media Line, a Middle East-based news website, claims to have received information about PIA flight attendants seeking asylum in Canada and other countries as early as 2018.
7 PIA CABIN CREW MEMBERS ‘VANISHED’ IN CANADA IN 2023
Last year, 2023, at least seven flight attendants of the PIA disappeared after landing in Canada, according to media reports.
Two PIA cabin crew members, who landed in Toronto from Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International failed to report to duty for their flight back home in December 2023, according to PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan.
“The flight was on its scheduled return to Islamabad, the steward did not show up in Toronto. The flight of the national flag carrier had to return to Islamabad without the crew members,” said spokesperson Khan.
PIA crew members Ayaz Qureshi, Khalid Afridi, and Fida Hussain Shah reportedly slipped away after landing in Canada in November and December 2023.
PIA BLAMES WOES ON CANADA’S ‘LIBERAL’ ASYLUM POLICY
The reason for this disappearance is an overly liberal asylum and asylum program of the Canadian government, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan told ArabNews in November 2023.
Khan said four PIA cabin crew members disappeared in the same way in 2022, while four more managed to disappear in 2023.
While the PIA officials point to Canada’s relaxed asylum norms, experts believe the low salaries of crew and lingering fear of the airline’s future, are prompting the crew members to escape after landing in Canada, rather than coming back home.
The cash-starved PIA’s privatisation was approved by Pakistan’s caretaker cabinet in February, two days before the elections in Pakistan, as a measure to revamp the loss-making airline, reported news agency PTI.
The annual average of Pakistani flight attendants who have slipped into Canada is five, as reported by SamaaTV. The employment period of PIA employees, who requested political asylum in Canada after slipping in five years, is 15 to 17 years, while their age is 35 to 40 years, added the report.
Speaking on the repercussions faced by the absconding crew members, PIA spokesperson Khan said, “We normally terminate the services of such individuals and penalize them by denying them of any benefits”.
PIA FLIGHT ATTENDANT HELPING OTHERS SEEK ASYLUM
A flight attendant, Mahira, who disappeared after landing in Toronto in 2018, provided legal assistance to Fareha Mukhtar when she applied for asylum, according to The MediaLine in January 2024.
A crew member who went missing a few years ago has settled in Canada and is now offering guidance to fellow crew members considering seeking asylum, added PIA spokesperson Khan.
However, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan tried to downplay the severity of the trend in December 2023, saying, “Crews seeking asylum are common throughout South Asia and other developing countries, therefore this situation is not exclusive to PIA.”
However, that justification isn’t a face-saver for officials of Pakistan International Airlines. “The national airline’s management has to face embarrassment from Canadian authorities over such incidents of escape,” an unnamed PIA official told Pakistan-based SamaaTV.
The airline’s mid-senior members are actually seeking asylum in Canada. Maryam, the PIA attendant who went missing on Monday (February 26), has worked with the PIA for 15 years.
Pakistan is seeing record-high inflation because of a tattered economy and political instability. It isn’t unusual for its citizens to be looking for better prospects abroad. Whoever can, tries to fly out of the mess. The PIA cabin crew members can fly out for free at least.