Air Hostess
Selma Sheikh is seen in 1950s uniform in this photograph. Selma
joined PIA as Air Hostess in 1957 and later got promoted to the
position of flight purser and served the airline till late
1960s
with great amount of dedication. Brilliant, well groomed and good looking
Selma appeared on a number of PIA brochures and printed material
like in-flight booklets, advertisements and Boeing 707/720B
emergency safety instructions in 1950s and 1960s. PIA's
1962 wall calendar featured Selma with other PIA air hostesses
including Shehla Leghari and legendary Momi Gul Durrani. During
her service with PIA, Selma flew on a number of aircraft types
operated by PIA at that time including Super Constellation, DC-3
Dakota, Fokker F27, Boeing 707, Boeing 720B and Trident. On
January 2, 1962, Selma was member of operating crew of PIA's
brand new Boeing 720-040B (AP-AMG) when this aircraft on its
delivery flight to Pakistan
broke the world
record for the London-Karachi non-stop flight time. Her favourite
aircraft in PIA was and still is the Super Constellation. On Super Constellation flights,
unlike
today's fast turnarounds, on the London flights for
instance, Selma and her fellow crew members would leave Karachi,
have a three day layover in either Beirut, staying at the
Commodore Hotel, or in Rome, before continuing on to London.
If they were going on to New York on Boeing 707 jet flight,
it would be 3 or 4 day layover in London, in the earliest days
at the Palm Court in Richmond, or in later years at the
Kensington Palace Hotel, and similar layovers on the return
flights, so in all one flight would be 12 to 14 days outstation,
which was just great!! says Selma. On Trident and Boeing flights
Selma flew within what was then West Pakistan and also to Bombay
and Delhi in India. Sometimes Selma and her fellow air
hostesses would be sent off to Dacca in East Pakistan for a
month's posting where they flew DC-3 Dakotas, the most hair
rising planes in Selma's experience.
On DC-3s, Selma flew within East
Pakistan and also to Calcutta in India. Selma enjoyed her job
and on many occasions she
was chosen to be part of crew on VVIP flights. She performed
duty on VVIP flights that carried famous personalities including
President Ayub Khan of Pakistan, Crown Prince Akihito and Crown
Princess Michiko of Japan (now Emperor and Empress of Japan),
the Shah of Iran Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and Empress Farah Pahlavi, and
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. On her flights
she also got chance to meet famous personalities like the
Hollywood film star Ingrid Bergman, English crime writer Agatha Christie
and many other VIPs |