Honolulu
AP
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A former flight attendant who posed as a pilot and current airline employee allegedly tricked three U.S. airlines into giving away hundreds of free tickets over a four-year period, federal authorities say. But industry insiders are left wondering how he allegedly did it and why airlines didn’t notice sooner.
Dallas Pokornik, 33, of Toronto, was arrested in Panama in October last year after being charged with wire fraud in federal court in Hawaii. He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday after being extradited to the United States. His federal public defender declined to discuss the case.
According to court documents, Pokornik worked as a flight attendant for a Toronto-based airline from 2017 to 2019 and then fraudulently used that airline’s employee identification card to obtain tickets reserved for pilots and flight attendants at three other airlines. Court documents did not include an explanation as to why the airline did not realize the credentials were invalid in an industry focused on aviation and airport safety.
The indictment did not identify the airlines involved, but said the U.S. airlines were based in Honolulu, Chicago and Fort Worth, Texas. A Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson said Wednesday that the airline does not comment on litigation. Representatives for United Airlines and American Airlines did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press.
Porter Airlines, a Canadian airline based in Toronto, said in an emailed statement that it was “unable to confirm any information related to this story.” Air Canada, which is based in Montreal but has a major presence in Toronto, said it has no record of Mr. Pokornik working in Toronto.
John Cox, a former pilot who runs an aviation safety company in St. Petersburg, Fla., said the allegations are surprising given the cross-checks airlines can perform to verify the employment of crew members who are about to fly for another airline.
Airlines typically rely on databases of active airline employees maintained on third-party websites to verify whether someone is actually an employee.
“The only thing I can think of is they didn’t indicate that he wasn’t employed by the airline,” Cox said in a phone interview Wednesday. “As a result, when the check was made at the gate, he appeared as a legitimate employee.”
Passenger airlines typically offer such free or deeply discounted seats to their own crew or the crew of other airlines, if seats are available. This is a courtesy that improves the functionality of the entire industry by moving crews to where they are needed. Seats, including “jump seats” with shoulder harnesses in the cockpit or cabin, can also be provided for leisure travel.
Bruce Rodger, an airline pilot who runs an aviation consulting firm, said crew members who need to travel to another city for work pass through airport security by scanning a “known crew member” card linked to a database with their photo. You will also be required to present your employee badge and government-issued identification.
He said known crew processes are not allowed to be used for leisure travel.
For leisure travel, flight attendants can purchase discounted standby tickets or request jump seats. With a standby ticket, the flight attendant will pass through regular airport security and arrive at the gate. Even if you have a standby ticket, you can also request a jump seat for your employees to fly for free.
Off-duty pilots must have approval from the airplane’s captain to install a jump seat in the cockpit. Roger said pilots in jump seats must present their pilot’s license and medical clearance to the captain. Flight attendants riding in jump seats in the main cabin do not need these documents.
In 2023, an off-duty airline pilot in the cockpit of a Horizon Airlines flight said, “I’m not okay,” just before cutting off the engine during the flight. The pilot, Joseph Emerson, later told police he had been battling depression. A federal judge sentenced the man to prison last November.
U.S. prosecutors said Tuesday that Pokornik requested to sit in a jump seat in the cockpit, usually reserved for off-duty pilots. It is unclear from court documents whether he has ever been in the cockpit of a plane, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Honolulu declined to say.
A few years ago, in the wake of the famous Frank Abagnale case, the airline industry tightened standards for the flight allowances employees receive. In his bombastic 1980 memoir, “Catch Me If You Can,” Mr. Abagnale described the disadvantages of pretending to be a pilot and flying for free, among other things. His story became even more famous when Steven Spielberg made it into a film in 2002 starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, additional restrictions were placed by airlines and the FAA on who could board planes and enter the cockpit.
