A former flight attendant allegedly posed as a pilot to fly free for four years. Photo / Supplied
A former flight attendant allegedly posed as a pilot to fly free for four years. Photo / Supplied
A former flight attendant conned his way on to hundreds of free flights by posing as a pilot, a court has heard.
In a scam reminiscent of the film Catch Me If You Can, Dallas Pokornik spent four years using a fake employee ID card and his insider knowledge tofly for free across three major airlines, prosecutors alleged.
The 33-year-old Canadian has so far been charged with two counts of wire fraud for allegedly cheating his way on to two Hawaiian Airlines flights on August 16 and October 28, 2024.
Prosecutors have alleged Pokornik, from Toronto, regularly tried to convince staff that he be given the jumpseat in the cockpit of the aircraft, a seat typically reserved for off-duty pilots, trainees or inspectors.
Pokornik, who worked as a steward for a Toronto-based airline between July 2017 and October 2019, faces a potential prison sentence of 20 years in Hawaii’s federal prison and a fine of up to US$250,000 ($427,540) if convicted.
He is accused of using a fake ID badge from his former airline and lying about his employment to obtain discounted or free travel.
Jet-setting lifestyle
His alleged exploits resemble the plot of Steven Spielberg’s 2002 film, in which serial conman Frank Abagnale (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) poses as a Pan American World Airways pilot named Frank Taylor by using a forged ID and a fake uniform.
Photographs uploaded to Pokornik’s Facebook account, authenticated by the Telegraph, present a jet-setting lifestyle of him hopping into planes and travelling across the world to New York, London, a floating beach club in Thailand, Los Angeles and Mexico.
In one video, uploaded in September 2022, Pokornik, wearing a Hugo Boss-embossed polo shirt, films himself stepping onto a private jet and reclining in a leather seat with a glass of wine.
Federal court records, first cited by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper, said that Pokornik’s “false and fraudulent representations” caused Hawaiian, United and American Airlines to issue the tickets “at no cost”.
Investigators believe that his experience with airline systems and the verification processes used for staff were central to his alleged scheme.
It is unclear from federal court records how many times Pokornik flew in a jumpseat in the cockpit of an aircraft or in the main cabin.
Pokornik was arrested in Panama on January 15 and extradited to the United States where he was indicted.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The scam is compared to Catch Me If You Can. The 2002 film starred Leonardo DiCaprio as conman Frank Abagnale. Photo / Catch Me If You Can
Fictitious identification
US assistant attorney Michael Nammar, in court documents filed to the US District Court for the District of Hawaii, this week, wrote: “[The] defendant is a Canadian citizen with no ties to the US that was extradited from Panama.
“The investigation has established that the defendant, over the course of four years, falsely claimed he was an airline pilot and presented a fictitious employee identification card to obtain hundreds of flights at no cost.”
Nammar told the court there was a “serious risk” that Pokornik would flee if he was granted bail and said there is “no condition or combination of conditions” that guarantees he would show up for his court dates if released from federal custody at the Federal Detention Centre in Honolulu.
The Telegraph has approached Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines for comment.
The case comes six months after that of Tiron Alexander, a US airline employee who flew on 34 free flights and booked 120 others by pretending to be a flight attendant or a pilot.
Alexander, a 35-year-old California resident, was found guilty last year of wire fraud charges and will be sentenced on Friday (local time).
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