Canadian Charged in Wire Fraud for Fake Pilot ID Free Flights

A 33-year-old Canadian man from Toronto has been charged with wire fraud after allegedly posing as a commercial pilot and flight attendant to obtain hundreds of free flights on major U.S. airlines over four years. Dallas Pokornik was arrested in Panama last month and extradited to the United States, where he pleaded not guilty Tuesday in federal court in Honolulu.

Prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii allege that Pokornik, who worked as a flight attendant for a Toronto-based airline from 2017 to 2019, began using counterfeit employee identification from that carrier shortly after leaving the job. The fake credentials allowed him to access an online booking tool reserved for airline staff, securing complimentary tickets on three carriers based in Honolulu, Chicago, and Fort Worth, Texas. Court documents do not name the airlines, but the locations correspond to the headquarters of Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, and American Airlines.

According to the indictment, Pokornik's scheme involved presenting the forged identification to airline personnel, enabling him to board flights without payment. He also reportedly requested access to a jump seat,...