Three US airlines were duped into giving a Canadian man hundreds of free flights after he posed as a commercial airline pilot over a four-year period, according to court records.
Dallas Pokornik, 33, from Toronto was indicted on October 2, 2025, for wire fraud and appeared in court on January 20, 2026, where he pleaded not guilty.
Attorney Ken Sorenson for the District of Hawaii said in a Department of Justice (DOJ) statement that the 33-year-old man was arrested in Panama, Cuba, and extradited to the US
Court documents alleged that Pokornik “falsely claimed he was an airline pilot and presented a fictitious employee identification card to obtain hundreds of flights at no cost on three different airlines”.
While the three airlines were not identified, the indictment said they were based in Honolulu, Chicago and Fort Worth, according to the Associated Press.
“During the fraudulent scheme, Pokornik requested a jump seat in the cockpit of the aircraft, even though Pokornik was not a pilot and did not have an airman’s certificate,” said the Department of Justice statement.
If convicted, Pokornik faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, plus a term of supervised release.
Court documents revealed that between 2017 and 2019, Pokornik worked as a flight attendant for a Toronto-based carrier.
The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the US Marshals Service. Pokornik will remain in custody until trial.
