A flight attendant working for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has gone missing during a layover in the Canadian city of Toronto… Again. On this occasion, company sources quoted by Pakistani media outlets claim the flight attendant, known only by his first name Yasir, disappeared from the crew hotel on Monday after operating PIA flight PK781 from Islamabad to Toronto.
Company managers apparently called the flight attendant who told them he was travelling to another city before turning off his phone.
This isn’t the first time, however, that a PIA flight attendant has failed to report for the return flight home after a layover in Canada. In 2018, one flight attendant claimed asylum during his layover in Toronto and never returned back to Pakistan.
In another incident in 2019, a female PIA flight attendant known only as Shazia disappeared during a layover in Paris. On that occasion, Shazia allegedly left a hand written resignation note in her hotel room before fleeing to Belgium.
After both incidents, PIA executives promised an investigation. The same is true of this latest incident with one manager promising to take action against the missing flight attendant.
While relatively uncommon, flight attendants have been known to claim asylum during international layovers or simply resign and fail to turn up to work the return flight home. On those rare occasions, most airlines staff flights with more than the legal minimum of crew or are granted an exemption to operate a flight back to the home base with less crew than would normally be required.