In a reminiscent tale not unlike the plot of the film “Catch Me If You Can” from 2002, a Toronto man is facing allegations of impersonating a commercial pilot over a span of four years to secure hundreds of complimentary flights across three different airlines. Dallas Pokornik, a 33-year-old former flight attendant, reportedly utilized a fabricated employee ID to access the jump seat in the cockpit for these flights, as stated by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office for the District of Hawaii.
Pokornik was apprehended in Panama in January following an indictment for wire fraud on October 2, 2025, and after being extradited, he pleaded not guilty during a court appearance on Tuesday. Court documents reveal that Pokornik served as a flight attendant for a Toronto-based airline between 2017 and 2019. Subsequently, he allegedly exploited counterfeit employee credentials from that airline to book tickets designated for pilots and flight attendants on three other carriers.
The airlines Pokornik purportedly flew with for free are headquartered in Honolulu, Chicago, and Fort Worth, Texas, according to court records. Representatives from Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, and American Airlines, based in these respective cities, have not responded to requests for comment. If convicted, Pokornik could face a maximum of 20 years in prison, a fine up to $250,000 US, and a period of supervised release.
Notably, last June, a Florida man was found guilty of a similar scheme involving impersonation as a flight attendant to secure over 120 complimentary flights across six years. Tiron Alexander, 35, managed to book free flights on an airline’s website reserved for pilots and flight attendants by posing as a flight attendant from other airlines, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Alexander also assumed the role of a flight attendant on three additional airline carriers, as outlined in a press release from the attorney’s office.