Man convicted after traveling on 120 flights for free by posing as a flight attendant
The man has since been convicted of wire fraud
A man from Florida has been convicted after traveling on a whopping 120 flights for free.
He did this by posing as a flight attendant in order to book free flights through various airlines.
Tiron Alexander has now been convicted of wire fraud as well as entering a secure area of an airport under false pretenses.
The 35 year old committed his crimes between 2018 and 2024, where he would book free flights that should only be available to pilots and flight attendants.
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In order to achieve this, Alexander has around 30 different badge numbers and dates of hire.
Alexander had been a global ticketing support representative for Delta Air Lines between 2010 and 2012 before working as a flight attendant from 2013 to 2014 for Atlantic Southeast Airlines.
After that, the man briefly worked as a flight attendant for Republic Airways in 2015.
According to trial evidence, it was uncovered that Alexander managed to subsequently book over 120 free flights by flashing claiming that he was a flight attendant.
The incidents took place at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
In a statement by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, it said: “In total, Alexander flew on 34 flights with the airline carrier without paying for any of them by posing as a flight attendant who worked for other airlines.
“Over the 34 flights, Alexander claimed through the airline carrier’s website application process—a process that required an applicant to select whether they were a pilot or flight attendant and provide their employer, date of hire, and badge number information—that he worked for seven different airlines and had approximately 30 different badge numbers and dates of hire.
“The evidence at trial also showed that Alexander posed as a flight attendant on three other airline carriers. Ultimately, Alexander booked more than 120 free flights by falsely claiming to be a flight attendant.”
Speaking to Fortune, a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration who said that they were ‘pleased to receive a guilty verdict on all five counts against Tiron Alexander’.
The spokesperson continued: “While Alexander was able to board flights by fraudulently obtaining a boarding pass, he underwent all applicable TSA security procedures, including ID verification and physical screening, and did not pose a threat to other airline passengers.
“TSA remains dedicated to the security of the flying public and will continue to support the prosecution of those who break air travel laws.”