News / Air & Airports

Toronto man accused of posing as pilot to obtain hundreds of free flights

Michael Pihach

01-21-2026 7:00 pm

Michael Pihach

Michael Pihach is an award-winning journalist with a keen interest in digital storytelling. In addition to PAX, Michael has also written for CBC Life, Ryerson University Magazine, IN Magazine, and DailyXtra.ca. Michael joins PAX after years of working at popular Canadian television shows, such as Steven and Chris, The Goods and The Marilyn Denis Show.

It’s being likened to scenes from the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can, in which actor Leonardo DiCaprio impersonates a pilot to scam an airline.

Reports say a man from Toronto, ON impersonated both a commercial pilot and an active flight attendant to secure hundreds of free flights from U.S. airlines.

The suspect, identified as 33-year-old Dallas Pokornik, was taken into custody in Panama after a federal grand jury in Hawaii charged him with wire fraud in October.

Following his extradition to the United States, Pokornik entered a not-guilty plea on Tuesday (Jan. 20), according to the Associated Press.

Court records show that Pokornik worked as a flight attendant for a Toronto-based airline between 2017 and 2019.

After leaving that position, prosecutors allege he used counterfeit employee credentials from the airline to access tickets designated for pilots and flight attendants on three other carriers.

The scheme apparently lasted four years.

Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that Pokornik also asked to use the cockpit’s “jump seat,” a seat normally limited to off-duty pilots.

Court filings do not clarify whether he was ever allowed into the cockpit, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to provide further details, reports say.

The charging documents did not name the airlines that allegedly provided the free travel, noting only that they are headquartered in Honolulu, Chicago, and Fort Worth, Texas.

Airlines based in those cities — Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, and American Airlines — did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

It isn’t 100 per cent clear which Toronto-based airline Pokornik was working for.

CBC News contacted Air Canada, Porter, Sunwing, and WestJet, and of those carriers, only Porter and Sunwing are headquartered in Toronto, while Air Canada is based in Montreal while WestJet operates out of Calgary.

An Air Canada spokesperson told CBC that the airline has no record of anyone with that name ever being employed by the company.

Porter, Sunwing, and WestJet have not publicly commented on the story as of publication time.

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