After a search of his Toronto hotel room, a note was found that read, “Thank you, PIA (Pakistan International Airlines).”
A message of appreciation like this is what flight attendants would expect to find on a flyer after a comfortable and comfortable flight.
However, the note that read “Thank you, PIA” was actually written by the stewardess and was not a satisfactory flyer.
The note was from Maryam Raza, who works with PIA and arrived in Toronto on a flight from Islamabad on Monday (February 26), but did not fly back to Karachi the next day for the mission.
When authorities searching for Mariam opened her hotel room, they found her PIA uniform with the words “Thank you, PIA” written on it, Dawn reported.
Maryam Raza is not the only example of a PIA crew that landed in Canada and disappeared into thin air. In fact, she was just following the trend.
Maryam’s disappearance occurred just one month after PIA flight attendant Faiza Mukhtar went missing in Canada in January 2024.
Faiza Mukhtar, who was scheduled to return to Karachi the day after arriving in Canada, “did not board the plane and went missing,” PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan said.
PIA crew members seeking asylum in Canada since 2018
The disappearance of crew members Maryam and Faiza indeed follows a worrying trend for PIA, which is grappling with financial and credibility losses.
This is the second time Mariam has disappeared in 2024.
Perhaps PIA, which Jacqueline Kennedy called in 1962 “a wonderful group of people to fly with,” is no more. Since then, it has become PIA’s slogan.
In fact, Pakistan is not the Pakistan of the 1960s. He makes a living from loans from the International Monetary Fund. (IMF) and the international dollar; Pakistan will see record brain drain in 2023. Uncertain about their future in Pakistan, skilled professionals are leaving the Islamic Republic in droves.
According to aviation news site Simple Flying, the trend of Pakistani flight attendants disappearing after serving on flights to Canada began in 2019 and has been on the rise in recent years.
However, Media Line, a news website based in the Middle East, claims to have received information in 2018 about PIA flight attendants seeking asylum in Canada and other countries.
Seven PIA flight attendants ‘disappeared’ in Canada in 2023
Last year in 2023, at least seven PIA flight attendants were said to have gone missing after landing in Canada, according to media reports.
Two PIA flight attendants who landed in Toronto from Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport did not report for their return flight in December 2023, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan said.
“The flight was scheduled to return to Islamabad, but the stewards did not appear in Toronto. The national flag carrier flight had to return to Islamabad without a crew,” Khan said.
PIA crew members Ayaz Qureshi, Khalid Afridi and Fida Hussain Shah reportedly fled after landing in Canada in November and December 2023.
PIA blames Canada’s ‘liberal’ asylum policy for problems
“The reason is [disappearance] “This is an overly liberal asylum and asylum program by the Canadian government,” PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan told Arab News in November 2023.
Khan said four PIA flight attendants similarly went missing in 2022, and four more went missing in 2023.
PIA officials point to Canada’s loosening of asylum standards, but experts say low pay for crew members and deep-seated fears about the airline’s future are causing crew members to flee rather than return home after landing in Canada. I think there are.
The privatization of cash-strapped PIA was approved by Pakistan’s caretaker cabinet in February, two days before Pakistan’s elections, as a way to turn around the loss-making airline, news agency PTI reported.
SamaaTV reports that an average of five Pakistani flight attendants immigrate to Canada each year. The report added that the PIA employees who applied for political asylum in Canada after a five-year expiration had been employed for 15 to 17 years and were between 35 and 40 years old.
Regarding the repercussions faced by the escaped crew members, PIA spokesperson Khan said: “Normally we impose penalties such as terminating the service of such persons and denying them any benefits.”
PIA cabin crew helping others apply for asylum
Mahira, a flight attendant who disappeared after landing in Toronto in 2018, provided legal assistance to Fareh Mukhtar when she applied for asylum, TheMediaLine reported in January 2024.
The crew members who went missing several years ago have settled in Canada and are currently “providing guidance” to other crew members considering asylum, PIA spokeswoman Khan added.
However, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan sought to downplay the seriousness of this trend as of December 2023, stating that “crews seeking asylum are common across South Asia and other developing countries. Therefore, this situation is not unique to PIA.”
But that justification is no face-saving for Pakistan International Airlines officials. “The management of the national airline has to face embarrassment from the Canadian authorities in such cases of escape,” an anonymous PIA official told Pakistan-based Summer TV.
The people who are actually seeking asylum in Canada are mid-level and senior airline members. Mariam, a PIA employee who went missing on Monday (February 26), had been working at PIA for 15 years.
pakistan is watching Record inflation due to a battered economy and political instability. It is not uncommon for citizens to seek better prospects abroad. Those who can try to get out of the mess. At least PIA flight attendants get to fly for free.
