Man accused of receiving hundreds of free flights while posing as pilot in years long scam
A man from Toronto has been accused of blagging his way into obtaining free flights by posing as an airline pilot and a flight attendant.
While fun, there's no doubt that traveling and seeing the world is an expensive hobby, with Dallas Pokornik allegedly deciding to cheat the system to avoid the cost and going to many places across the globe completely free of charge.
The thing is, that's very illegal and the 33-year-old is now facing criminal proceedings as a result of his supposed actions.
Authorities say Pokornik, the former flight attendant, posed as a commercial pilot and his old job as a flight attendant, which allowed him to obtain hundreds of free flights from the three US airlines.
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Court documents state Pokornik was a flight attendant for an unnamed Toronto-based airline from 2017 to 2019, before using fake forms of identification from the carrier to obtain free tickets which would usually be reserved for pilots and flight attendants.
"During the fraudulent scheme, Pokornik requested a jump seat in the cockpit of the aircraft, even though Pokornik was not a pilot and did not have an airman’s certificate," the US attorney office added.
It remains unclear at this time whether Pokornik ever rode in the plane's cockpit during his free travel hooray.
The former flight attendant was detained in Panama last October on wire fraud charges. He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday (January 20) following his extradition.
If Pokornik is convicted of his alleged crimes, he could face up to 20 years behind bars, on top of a fine of of up to $250,000. He could also face a term of supervised release.
While the indictment did not identify the airlines involved, it does state they are based in Honolulu, Chicago and Fort Worth, Texas, respectively.
Pokornik is claimed to have masterminded the scheme for a period of four years.
The scheme is very much reminiscent of the 2002 Leonardo DiCaprio film Catch Me If You Can, and the story surrounding this Canadian man is not too dissimilar to that of Tiron Alexander, who posed as a crew member for six years between 2018 and 2024.
He flew over 120 times for free by using internal ticketing systems designed for pilots and flight attendants. Alexander was found guilty of wire fraud and entering into a secure area of an airport by false pretenses, and was convicted in June last year.
Callum Jones