PIA Flight Attendants Fleeing To Canada

It seems like every airline is having retention problems these days, but Pakistan International Airlines is shedding flight attendants in Toronto. In the past few months at least four flight attendants have failed to show up for the return leg to Islamabad or Lahore after landing in Toronto. Two jumped ship in November prompting the airline to implement stricter regulations for crews travelling to Canada and Europe, according to Pakistan Today. Assuming they're still in Canada, the flight attendants are in the country legally, at least for now, under Canadian immigration rules and may be seeking citizenship, according to the publication.

The state-owned airline has been losing billions of dollars annually and the country, at the request of the International Monetary Fund, has been trying to sell it. So far, there have been no takers and flight attendants have been complaining about low pay and working conditions, and the proposed privatization plan has irritated airline workers because it would make them contractors instead of employees with job protection.