- Pokornik faced potential 20 years in prison and $250,000 fine equivalent to €287,068 if convicted.
- He used a fake ID from his former Toronto airline and lied about employment.
- The scheme involved Hawaiian United and American Airlines.
- Investigators believed airline system knowledge enabled the fraud.
- Pokornik was arrested in Panama and extradited to the United States.
A former flight attendant conned his way onto hundreds of free flights by posing as a pilot across three major airlines.
In an alleged scam reminiscent of the film Catch Me If You Can, Dallas Pokornik aged 33 from Toronto spent four years using a fake employee ID card and his insider knowledge to fly for free across three major airlines, prosecutors have alleged.
Mr Pokornik used a fake employee ID card and insider knowledge for the scheme. Prosecutors have charged him with two counts of wire fraud for Hawaiian Airlines flights on 16 August and 28 October 2024 when he attempted to secure the jump seat in cockpits typically reserved for off-duty pilots. The alleged scam resembled the film Catch Me If You Can.
shared in a written statement “A former flight attendant conned his way onto hundreds of free flights by posing as a pilot a court has heard.
