Page 14 - IAV Digital Magazine #620

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Guy Scores 120 Free Flights By Posing As Flight Attendant Before Getting Busted
By AJ Dellinger
From the “God forbid a man have hobbies” file, the Department of
Justice announced th is week that a gentle- man who posed as a flight attendant and scored more than 100 free flights over the course of six years has been con- victed of wire fraud and entering into a secure area of an air- port under false pre- tenses.
In a plot that frankly doesn’t seem that wild if you watched the most recent sea- son of Nathan Fielder’s “The Rehearsal,” 35-year- old Tiron Alexander allegedly managed to secure flights that were supposed to only be available to pilots and flight atten- dants. According to the Department of Justice, Alexander was able to book the flights by falsifying employment informa- tion and providing
badge numbers that apparently allowed him to bypass the security of the online booking options for airline employees.
Alexander’s primary victim was a single airline, through which he allegedly booked 34 different flights. He submitted docu- mentation showing that he worked for seven different air- lines and reportedly provided more than 30 different badge numbers over the
course of his book- ings. He was also able to duplicate the process that let him fly for free as a faux employee across three more airlines, ultimately booking a total of 120 free flights between 2018 and 2024.
NBC News reported that, according to court documents, Alexander does (or did) work for an air- line—one that is headquartered in Dallas, which would include Southwest Airlines and American Airlines on the passenger side and Ameristar Jet Charter and Flexjet on the cargo/charter flight side. He report- edly started working there in 2015, but at no point was he a flight attendant or a pilot during his time at the company.
The Transportation Security Administration was involved in investigat- ing the case that was eventually brought to court, according to the Department of
Justice. None of the airlines that got caught up in Alexander’s schem- ing were mentioned in the announce- ment, which is not surprising, as they are likely pretty embarrassed about the whole thing. It doesn’t exactly speak highly of the security protocols they have in place. Of course, neither does the fact that Nathan Fielder was able to get peo- ple to follow airline employees around for days to study their behavior for a comedy show, so, not exactly a banner year for the airline industry. We also keep having commu- nication blackouts at air traffic control cen- ters around the coun- try, for what it’s worth.
While he has been convicted, the man is still waiting to see what his penalty will be. A judge will rule on Alexander’s sen- tencing on August 25.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uafk8z40vl8
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