An airport employee\u2019s decision to photograph a suspicious identification badge brought down a fake pilot who had spent years flying free across North America, Asia, and Europe, according to U.S. federal prosecutors. Dallas Pokornik, a 34-year-old former flight attendant from Toronto, pleaded guilty in U.S. district court in Honolulu to one count of wire fraud after authorities said he used forged airline credentials to access travel benefits reserved for pilots for nearly five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Court records filed in Hawaii describe a scheme that began in January 2020 and continued until October 2024. Pokornik, who had worked as a flight attendant for an unspecified Toronto-based airline from July 2017 to October 2019, allegedly presented a fake company identification badge to multiple U.S. carriers. Prosecutors said the badge claimed he still worked for the Canadian airline and allowed him to receive free tickets and cockpit jump seat access normally available only to active flight crew members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n