The flight from Lahore to London was ready for departure at 9 pm when the pilot, Anwaar Chaudhry, asked the other crew members to make steward Awais Qureshi, whom he called a notorious smuggler, leave the aircraft, the Dawn reported.
The pilot alleged that in the past the steward was involved in incidents of smuggling during flight duty bringing bad name to the airline.
The flight got delayed for three hours, sparking agitation from the passengers who stood up and raised slogans against the PIA management, the paper said.
The matter was brought to the knowledge of the high-ups who intervened to resolve the issue. The flight later departed at around midnight.
The PIA spokesperson confirmed the incident and said an inquiry has been launched to ascertain the facts.