‘Catch Me If You Can’: Man plays pilot to rack up hundreds of flights
Dallas Pokornik faces US charges for fake pilot identity fraud
DUBAI – A Toronto man has been charged in the United States with wire fraud after allegedly impersonating an airline pilot and securing free flights for over four years.
Dallas Pokornik, 33, was extradited from Panama following a federal indictment in Hawaii.
Authorities say he used a fraudulent employee ID from his former Canadian airline job to access travel benefits on three major US carriers from January 2020 to October 2024.
How did he fool airlines?
Pokornik previously worked as a flight attendant for a Toronto-based airline from 2017 to 2019. Court documents allege he used a fake ID to obtain tickets reserved for pilots and flight crews, exploiting industry agreements that allow off-duty staff to travel standby on other airlines.
The indictment does not name the carriers but cites locations in Honolulu, Chicago, and Fort Worth. Porter Airlines said it could not verify the information.
Catch Me If You Can
The case has drawn comparisons to the Hollywood film Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, in which a young con artist poses as a pilot to fly for free.
Federal prosecutors said Pokornik similarly used false credentials to obtain hundreds of free flights. Airlines normally verify employees through databases, badges, and government-issued IDs, but Pokornik allegedly bypassed these checks for years.
Crew travel rules
Prosecutors claim Pokornik requested a cockpit jump seat, reserved for off-duty pilots or authorised personnel. Federal rules prohibit leisure use of these seats. It remains unclear whether he ever actually entered a cockpit.
Pokornik pleaded not guilty in Hawaii this week and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.
The Department of Homeland Security and US Marshals Service continue investigating the case, highlighting vulnerabilities in airline employee verification.