Another flight attendant from Pakistan International Airlines has disappeared in Canada: the airline blames the country's laws
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has faced another incident involving the disappearance of a crew member in Canada. This time, flight attendant Faiza Mukhtar, who was scheduled to return to Pakistan the day after her arrival in Canada, failed to show up for her return flight.
This is not the first occurrence of PIA crew members disappearing in Canada. In 2023, at least seven flight attendants from the airline experienced similar situations. According to The Media Line, Faiza Mukhtar "did not board the plane and disappeared."
PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafiz Khan attributed Canada's relatively lenient asylum policy as the cause.
"Asylum-seeking by crew members is common in South Asia and other developing countries, so this situation is not unique to PIA," he stated.
The Pakistani airline believes that their security measures are ineffective due to the ease with which Pakistani nationals can escape and hide in Canada.
"We have not made any mistakes here [on the part of the airline] as we have tried our best to address this issue. However, Canada's laws are so lenient that these measures are becoming counterproductive," Khan explained.
Pakistan Airways asserts that it has attempted to prevent such incidents by raising the minimum age for flight attendants traveling to Canada to 50 and establishing a specialized unit to investigate disappearances.