Canadian Man Dallas Pokornik Charged With Wire Fraud for Posing as Airline Pilot to Score Hundreds of Free Flights

A Canadian man has been charged with wire fraud after allegedly pretending to be a commercial airline pilot and flight attendant to obtain hundreds of free flights over several years, U.S. authorities announced Tuesday.

Dallas Pokornik, 33, of Toronto, was arrested in Panama earlier this month and extradited to the United States. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday during an arraignment in federal court in Hawaii, where he was indicted on wire fraud charges last October. A magistrate judge ordered him to remain in custody.

According to court documents, Pokornik worked as a flight attendant for a Toronto-based airline from 2017 to 2019. After leaving that job, prosecutors allege, he used fake employee identification to claim travel benefits intended for airline staff on three other U.S.-based airlines. The indictment alleges Pokornik “used and presented a false and fictitious identification” as a current pilot or flight attendant to access these benefits.

Court filings indicate the alleged incidents involved airlines with operations in Honolulu, Chicago, and Fort Worth, Texas, though prosecutors did not identify the specific companies. Representatives for Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, and American Airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The indictment also alleges that Pokornik occasionally requested access to the cockpit “jump seat,” which is generally reserved for off-duty pilots, trainees, or inspectors. It is unclear from the filings whether any of those requests were approved.

The charges include two counts of wire fraud connected to tickets issued in Hawaii in 2024. If convicted, Pokornik faces up to 20 years in prison, fines of up to $250,000, and a period of supervised release.

Pokornik’s public defender did not respond to requests for comment.