PIA mulls blacklisting more than 100 air hostesses after Toronto incident

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is considering blacklisting more than 100 air hostesses after one of their crew members slipped away in Canadian capital Toronto, ARY News reported.

According to details, PIA’s Manager Flight Services has written to the national carrier’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman requesting blacklisting of more than 100 air hostesses who hold fake degrees.

The GM Flight Services requested that the air hostesses should be banned from boarding any flight to cities in Europe and Canada for they might slip away.

The PIA official was of the view that these flight attendants too could slip away like Fareeha Mukhtar did on September 13, bringing a bad name to the country and the airline.

Earlier this month, PIA announced that one of its air hostesses named Fareeha Mukhtar boarded the PIA flight PK-789 from Lahore on September 13 but as soon as it landed in Toronto, the woman disappeared mysteriously and never boarded the return flight.

The air hostess was supposed to return to Lahore on PIA’s PK-782 flight on the very day but never boarded the plane despite leaving for the same with her colleagues.

The PIA spokesperson maintained that a missing report has been lodged with the Canadian police.

ARY News later learnt that the air hostess named Fareeha Mukhtar had been involved in various criminal activities in the past.

In 2015, the air hostess was caught during smuggling foreign currency and mobile phones at the Heathrow airport in London. In the same year, she was suspended from her job as well.

As per the sources, Fareeha was inducted into the PIA on the basis of a fake Bachelors degree. In 2014, she was given a show-cause notice for submitting bogus educational documents.