Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Monday directed its crew members to hand over passports upon arrival in foreign countries after two of its crew members “slipped away” in other countries.
PIA General Manager Flight Services issued the directive after stating the decision was taken in view of recent cases of cabin staff “slipping away in foreign countries”, reported Pakistan news daily Dawn.
A PIA spokesperson confirmed to the Dawn that the new guidelines were issued in view of the recent incident involving two members of the carrier going missing in Canada.
The travel IDs of PIA crew members would reportedly be submitted with the station manager after they clear immigration and customs upon arrival in foreign countries. The same would be returned once the cabin staff check-in for the departing flights.
Yet another directive on security and mobility of crew members stipulated that staff will be required to mandatorily check-in at hotels upon arrival during overnight stopover. Any deviation from the protocol would be flagged by the hotel staff. The new guidelines issued in view of Covid-19 prohibit the airline staff members from venturing out of the hotel at night.
The development comes after a flight steward of flight PK-799 went missing in Toronto on Friday, the report stated.
The flight steward boarded the flight from Islamabad and disappeared after reaching Toronto. The PIA station manager later informed the airport authority about the flight attendant’s slipping away without informing the authorities.
PIA pilot ignored air traffic control, says Pakistani aviation authority
The airline has been under strict scrutiny after one of its aircraft crashed in Karachi last year. It was later disclosed by the Aviation Ministry that dozens of the airline’s pilots had fake licences leading to international condemnation.
The PIA has been under the spotlight since the crash of its airliner in Karachi last year which led to the disclosure by the Aviation Ministry that dozens of local pilots had fake licences. Since then a number of reformatory measures have been implemented to revive the working of the cash-strapped airline.
