In a bizarre turn of events, two air hostesses of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have allegedly gone missing after flying into Toronto, Canada, last week.
The hostesses, Maira and Aisha, were crew members on January 10th’s PK-781 flight from PIA to Toronto. The women allegedly went through immigration and customs after arriving at Toronto Pearson Airport and left the airport with the other crew members. However, they never arrived at their hotel as planned and haven’t been seen since.
Following the discovery of the hostesses’ disappearances, PIA representatives filed a complaint with Canadian border authorities. When the women vanished, they were carrying identification such as passports. Authorities believe they have probably snuck into Canada to apply for asylum or take on illegal employment.
There have been other cases of PIA crew members going missing overseas. Two pilots briefly vanished in Toronto in 2020 and returned to their hotel a few hours later. An air hostess in Paris managed to escape her hotel last year and successfully apply for asylum in France.
Industry sources claim that many airline employees from underdeveloped countries, such as Pakistan, view moving overseas as a means of achieving greater economic opportunities. They can apply for asylum in Canada or Europe and possibly be granted permanent residency.
According to a top PIA official, “This is a regrettable tendency. For our crews, we offer comprehensive training and comfortable working environments. However, other people think that abroad are better places to be.” He proposed that offering better pay packages could aid in keeping talent.
In the aftermath of this incident, PIA says it will be more cautious about staff assignments on international flights. Crew lists may only be truncated to essential staff, and layover durations may be shortened. Tighter monitoring measures in foreign countries are also being considered.
Aviation analyst Hassan Baqai commented,
“PIA needs to understand why crew members are defecting. Some pushing factors are at play here, whether economic concerns or workplace issues. The airline needs to address them.”
For now, Canadian authorities are investigating the whereabouts of the missing hostesses. However, given Canada’s open asylum policies, they will unlikely be compelled to return unless they come forward voluntarily.
The hostesses themselves have not made any public statements since their disappearance. But shortly before takeoff from Lahore, Aisha cryptically posted on social media, “Thank you, PIA, for a wonderful journey. So long, I will miss you!” This may have been a goodbye message hinting at her plans.
