Disappearing Flight Attendants: A Mystery for Pakistan International Airlines

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has faced no shortage of struggles over the past decade. Currently, the carrier is in the process of potential privatization as a last-effort attempt to save it from collapse. PIA has suffered from various issues, including corruption, mismanagement, and financial struggles. 

However, an unusual series of issues have started affecting the airline more recently. This relates to the increasing number of PIA flight attendants reportedly "disappearing" in Toronto.

"Disappearing" Flight Attendants?

PIA operates four weekly flights to Toronto's Pearson International Airport (YYZ), two from Lahore (LHE) and one each from Islamabad (ISB) and Karachi (KHI). These flights are primarily operated by the carrier's fleet of two Boeing 777-200LRs, of which PIA was the launch customer. Both examples (AP-BGY and AP-BGZ) were the first -200LR aircraft ever built by Boeing.

Toronto is PIA's furthest destination and the only North American destination following the termination of New York (JFK) service in 2017. Thanks to the large Pakistani diaspora in the Greater Toronto Area and much of Canada as a whole, PIA's Toronto service is extremely profitable for the airline. 

This is especially true following PIA's ban from Europe in 2020 that saw even more successful routes, such as those to London Heathrow (LHR), Manchester (MAN), and Birmingham (BHX), be indefinitely suspended. Being PIA's only nonstop link to the Western hemisphere, Toronto has brought a harsh reality for Pakistan's national airline.

PIA has lost many flight attendants in Toronto as, upon arrival in Canada, certain individuals will "disappear" during their layovers in the city. When the time comes for these individuals to return to Pearson Airport to work the flight back to Pakistan, some of them are nowhere to be seen.

Over the last two years, at least eight PIA flight attendants have vanished after arrival in Toronto. The most recent case transpired on January 19, when a PIA flight attendant who was supposed to work on PK784 back to Karachi did not show up. She had arrived the previous day on PK781 from Islamabad.

Why is This Happening?

Pakistan has been struggling economically for the past few years. Inflation continues to make life harder for everyday Pakistanis, and the poor economic situation has seen many Pakistanis leave the country for better opportunities abroad.

A PIA spokesperson attributed these unusual disappearances to Canada's lenient immigration policies and asylum procedures through this statement:

"There is no failure [on PIA's end] as we have tried to put in the most stringent possible efforts to curtail that. However, the laws of Canada are so liberal that those measures become counter-effective."

PIA changed its flight attendant rosters for the Toronto flights in December 2023 to crack down on these disappearances. These were made after yet another flight attendant had gone missing in Toronto earlier that month. These included rostering only those flight attendants above 50 and stricter monitoring of crews during the Toronto layovers. What "stricter monitoring" constitutes has not been specified.

Due to the large Pakistani diaspora in the Greater Toronto Area, many of the flight attendants who went missing may have family members in the area who can provide them with accommodation. PIA has yet to make a significant effort to try and locate these lost crewmembers as these would largely prove ineffective.

After all, the lost crewmembers are now in Canada, most likely seeking asylum. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Canada does not deport asylum seekers to certain countries that it believes are not safe.

Pakistan's security situation has been a significant concern in previous years. However, most of the country is deemed rather safe, especially in the larger cities of Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. Only specific parts of Pakistan's Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces are considered "high-risk" areas that are best avoided due to frequent conflict.