A former flight attendant for a Canadian airline has been arrested for posing as a pilot to obtain hundreds of free flights from U.S. airlines, according to investigators.
Dallas Pokornik, 33, of Toronto, was indicted on Oct. 2, 2025, for wire fraud, arrested in Panama and extradited to the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii said in a statement on Tuesday.
According to the attorney’s office, court records show that over four years, Pokornik falsely claimed he was an airline pilot and used a false employee identification card to obtain hundreds of free flights with three different airlines.
The indictment did not name the airlines but said they were based in Honolulu, Chicago and Fort Worth, Texas.
Representatives for Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines, which are based in those cities, didn’t immediately comment about the allegations.
The indictment said that Pokornik would also request a jump seat in the cockpit — an area typically reserved for off-duty pilots — even though he was not a pilot and did not hold an airman’s certificate.
It was not clear from court documents whether he had ever ridden in a plane’s cockpit.
If convicted, Pokornik faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release. A U.S. magistrate judge on Tuesday ordered Pokornik to remain in custody.
