PIA from the inside after four years: the national carrier reality, the fleet, the pay in rupees and whether to use it as a stepping stone
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#1 Lahore, four years at Pakistan International Airlines, and I put 'good and bad' in my bio because both are true and nobody on the internet writes the balanced version. This is for Pakistani applicants deciding whether to join PIA, wait for a Gulf carrier, or do one then the other.
The good
A real airline with a real network: domestic, the Gulf, the UK, Canada, Malaysia, Saudi for the Hajj and Umrah operation. The 777s and the A320s. Long haul layovers in Toronto and Manchester and London for crew who reach the wide body fleet. Training that is thorough on safety, done in Karachi. A permanent government backed employment structure with the protections and the pension logic that implies. And your family close, your food, your language, your mosque.
The bad
An old fleet, in parts. Operational disruptions that come from money and politics rather than weather. A service standard that varies a lot by crew and by route. Promotion by seniority and connection in ways that are frustrating for a crew member who is good and young. Uniform and grooming standards that are enforced unevenly. And pay in rupees that has been eroded by inflation in a way that has made the Gulf carriers, which were always attractive, now almost irresistible for anyone with the profile.
Pay honestly
Basic for a junior crew member is modest by any international standard. Flying allowances and layover allowances in foreign currency are what make the job pay, and a month with a Toronto and a Manchester on it is a good month. A month of domestic is a poor one. Senior crew on the international fleet do reasonably. Junior crew on domestic do not. I will not give a rupee figure because it changes every quarter, and because the conversion to dollars is the depressing part.
The stepping stone question
This is what everyone asks me. Should you do two years at PIA and then go to Emirates or Qatar? My honest answer: the experience helps at the Gulf assessment, the recruiters respect it, and the SEP training is transferable in principle. But the service culture is different enough that you will retrain from zero on that side. And the seniority you build at PIA is worth nothing when you leave. So it is a stepping stone in the sense that it gets you flying and gives you stories. It is not a shortcut.
The other path: apply to the Gulf directly at 21 with a hospitality job. Plenty of Pakistanis do it and get in. If you have the English and the profile, this is the faster route to the money.
Who should join PIA
Someone who wants to fly and live in Pakistan. Someone who values the stability over the salary. Someone who wants the Hajj operation, which is a specific and meaningful kind of flying. Someone for whom the Gulf accommodation rules and distance from family are not acceptable. That is a real person and there are a lot of them, and PIA is a good job for them.
Who should not
Someone who is joining because it is the only airline they know. There are others. Read this forum.
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#2 Pakistani, at a Gulf carrier from Jeddah, and Hassan's stepping stone answer is exactly right. My PIA batch mates who moved across did well at the assessment and struggled for the first three months of the service training. The recruiters respected the flying. The trainers had to unteach the service.
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#3 Karachi, applying to both PIA and Qatar this year, and this is the first honest comparison I have read. The 'seniority is worth nothing when you leave' point is the one I had not considered.
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#5 Pakistani at Emirates, joined directly from a hotel job in Lahore at 22. The direct path is real and it worked for me. I have no PIA experience and it has never mattered. Hassan is right that both routes are legitimate.
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#6 Indian, at an Indian carrier, and the national carrier conversation is identical across the border: stability versus salary, family versus the Gulf, seniority that does not travel. It is the same thread in a different accent.
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#7 Delhi, and the Hajj operation point is one that Indian crew do not have a version of. That is a genuinely distinctive part of PIA and I have heard crew describe it as the most meaningful flying of their career.
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#8 Also Indian, and I would add the Umrah season is the one time PIA crew I know say the operation runs with real pride. That matters more than the fleet age to some people. Fair post.