Toronto man posed as pilot to rack up hundreds of free flights, prosecutors say

Original article by Leyland Cecco in Toronto

A Toronto man posed as a pilot for years in order to fool airlines into giving him hundreds of free flights, prosecutors have alleged, in a case that has prompted comparisons to the Hollywood thriller Catch Me If You Can.

Authorities in Hawaii announced this week that Dallas Pokornik, 33, had been charged with wire fraud after he allegedly fooled three major US carriers into giving him free tickets over a span of four years.

Airlines typically offer standby tickets to their own staff and those with rival airlines as a way of ensuring the broader industry can effectively move employees across continents.

According to court documents, Pokornik was a flight attendant for a Toronto-based airline from 2017 to 2019, but then used an employee identification from that carrier to obtain tickets, “which he in fact knew to be fraudulent at the time it was so presented”.

The only Toronto-based airline, Porter, told reporters it was “unable to verify any information related to this story”.

On one occasion, Pokornik is alleged to have requested a jumpseat in an aircraft’s cockpit, which are normally reserved for off-duty pilots, even though he was not a pilot and did not have an airman’s certificate. Federal rules prohibit the cockpit jumpseats from being used for leisure travel.

It is unclear how Pokornik was able to convince the airlines he was employed as a flight attendant years after he stopped working in the industry.

Typically, employees use a card linked to a database that has their photo and confirms they are an airline employee, according to a flight attendant at a major Canadian airline. Staff must show a government-issued identification and an employee badge. Rules are looser, however, if the person identifying as an airline employee is flying for leisure.

Pokornik who was indicted on 2 October, was later arrested in Panama and extradited to the United States. The Department of Justice said the Department of Homeland Security is investigating the case along the US Marshals Service.

If convicted, Pokornik faces up to 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to US$250,000.