Another flight attendant disappears after landing at Pearson Airport in Mississauga

Yet another flight attendant for Pakistan’s national airline has vanished after landing in Mississauga, making for the second airline steward to disappear in as many months.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight attendant Maryam Raza was on the crew of Flight PK 782, recently travelling from Islamabad International Airport  to Pearson International Airport, according to multiple reports.

But the flight steward went missing after the flight, reportedly leaving a note in her hotel room which read “Shukria PIA,” which translates to, “Thank you, PIA” in Urdu. The flight attendant never showed up for a scheduled return flight from Pearson to Karachi, leading the crew to fly back to Pakistan without the missing woman.

Raza’s disappearance isn’t a unique case, as she is at least the second PIA flight attendant to vanish after landing in Canada this year and follows several similar incidents in 2023, which some reports say could be connected to low salaries for flight crews and fear about a privatization plan for the airline.

But the airline disagrees, blaming the disappearances on Canada’s liberal asylum policies, and PIA has reportedly attempted to curb the trend by raising the minimum age for flight attendants travelling to Canada.

PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan told The Media Line that the airline has launched a task force to investigate the disappearances, saying missing flight attendants will face “strict departmental action” and “serious legal action” if they are returned to Pakistan.

In late December, two other PIA flight attendants reportedly vanished upon arrival at Pearson from Lahore, Pakistan. And in the early part of that month, yet another cabin crew member reportedly disappeared after touchdown.

The disappearances of PIA flight attendants is not a uniquely Pearson problem, as similar incidents have reportedly occurred after the national flag carrier’s flights landed in Paris and other parts of Europe in recent years.

According to The Media Line, PIA flight attendants have been seeking asylum in Canada and other countries since at least 2018.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story stated “Shukria” as a Hindi word, not an Urdu word, for “Thank You.”