A 35-year-old man is potentially looking at some serious punishment, after being convicted of a sneaky airline scheme (thanks to PYOK for flagging this)…
In this post:
Person uses airline employee badge numbers to get free flights
Tiron Alexander has been convicted by a federal jury of wire fraud and entering into the secure area of an airport by false pretenses, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison. That includes up to 20 years for wire fraud, and up to 10 years for entering a secure area by false pretenses.
This follows a lengthy investigation by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) into a scheme that this guy was carrying out.
This involves how airline employees get travel benefits, including for travel on other airlines. While most airline employees get significant discounts, pilots and flight attendants can often fly for free, including on other airlines, given that they sometimes need to commute to work.
So Alexander took advantage of this, by posing as a flight attendant, in order to fly for free. Between 2018 and 2024, Alexander posed as a flight attendant for several airlines, in order to take 34 Spirit Airlines flights at no cost.
How was he able to do that? Eligible airline employees can list themselves for free flights through an internal booking site. This requires filling out an application where you select whether you’re a pilot or flight attendant, and provide your employer, date of hire, and badge number.
Over the course of 34 flights, he claimed to work for seven different airlines, and provided approximately 30 different badge numbers and dates of hire. While 34 flights were specific to that airline (which is what was being tracked most closely), in total, he booked more than 120 free flights through this process, across airlines.
The irony is that this guy was an airline employee
Here’s what makes this story kind of wild. As it turns out, Alexander actually was an airline employee all the way from 2015 until 2024 (when he was arrested). It’s not clear what airline he worked for or exactly what role he had, though he wasn’t a pilot or flight attendant.
Wait, why would he pose as a flight attendant with fake credentials, when most airline employees receive travel benefits anyway? Well, most airline employees receive discounted travel on other airlines, but not free flights. Clearly he didn’t want to pay anything for his flights, which is why he engaged in this scheme. It’s also possible that posing as a pilot or flight attendant gave him access to travel on more airlines.
I imagine someone without a connection to the airline industry wouldn’t have been able to “hack” the system in this way, since they wouldn’t know this is possible. So this guy likely had just enough information to get himself in trouble…
Bottom line
A man has been found guilty of using fake credentials to pose as a flight attendant, taking a total of 120 free flights over the course of several years. He now faces up to 30 years in prison, including for wire fraud and entering into the secure area of an airport by false pretenses.
The irony in this story is that he actually was an airline employee, he just wasn’t eligible for completely free flights. So clearly he didn’t want to pay anything for flights, which is what caused him to engage in this scheme.
What do you make of this strange story?
I think flying Spirit is equal to TIME SERVED!
I was just thinking the same thing as some of the comments about the airline of choice
So if we're being generous, and assume he saves $100 per flight (probably saved way less given he already has employee discount, and Spirit isn't exactly Emirates F), 120 flights amounts to $12,500, and he threw away his job, x amount of time (up to 30 years) in jail, and basically any chance at getting a decent job after he comes out of prison for that amount...
On the bright side, at least he won't...
So if we're being generous, and assume he saves $100 per flight (probably saved way less given he already has employee discount, and Spirit isn't exactly Emirates F), 120 flights amounts to $12,500, and he threw away his job, x amount of time (up to 30 years) in jail, and basically any chance at getting a decent job after he comes out of prison for that amount...
On the bright side, at least he won't be concerned with paying for transportation in the penitentiary system.
Shouldn't Flying Spirit Airlines be punishment enough?
His best defense.
He's flying to MAGA rally.
He would get pardon way before Hunter gets sober.
This is slightly off topic, but I don't really understand why this would warrant jail time. There were no security breaches; he entered the secure area of the airport presumably by passing through TSA security or KCM. No airline suffered a measurable loss here as he just occupied a seat. Could he have paid cash to the airlines for 120 flights... I suppose, but he didn't 'take' anything from them.
It seems to me like...
This is slightly off topic, but I don't really understand why this would warrant jail time. There were no security breaches; he entered the secure area of the airport presumably by passing through TSA security or KCM. No airline suffered a measurable loss here as he just occupied a seat. Could he have paid cash to the airlines for 120 flights... I suppose, but he didn't 'take' anything from them.
It seems to me like he's facing 30 years of jail time because some private businesses got outsmarted by him but suffered no loss. I feel like punishments should fit crimes, and to me, this doesn't.
It's fraud, dude. Theft. Stealing.
Yes theft or fraud to the tune of $0. Nobody suffered a tangible loss. I think the punishment is excessive.
Of course the loss $$ of a very modest service charge but also the weight penalty / extra fuel burn of transporting his arse !
Well….was he a good flight attendant tho?
He's no Frank Abagnale.
LOL ..., But they both were eventually caught ! Although I don't know the actual tally of flights for Mr Abagnale or the number of romanced F/A's for either one !
But, seriously, I'm assuming this perp was only allocated cabin jump seats & not in the cockpit, or we really have recurring serious post 9-11 issues !
Even Frank Abagnale is no Frank Abagnale. Turns out most of Abagnale's story, if not all of it, was fabricated.
Getting the right credit could have gotten him a lot of free tickets especially since he is ok with flying domestic economy class. All legal.
Punishment enough being on an airline that many times.
Immensely important question for Ben and the readers: Does this make him a free spirit?
LOL..,., not for long as his wings are clipped..,, Maybe he can now appeal to other " spirits " for forgiveness, redemption or alternate crime conspiracies !
Knowing the American 'justice system', he'll barely get a slap on the wrist & meaningless probation.. Oh, and a verbal scolding, " Bad boy ! "
You mean “concepts of a punishment”?
I assume he was entering the secure area under his own credential and then somehow boarding with a fake one? Very curious how this actually happened
So instead of spending $29 to fly Spirit he now finds himself in prison and will likely never fly again, certainly won't work in aviation. You can't make this stuff up.
Wow. Stupid is as stupid does.
sounds like another basketball person
I can only interpret this as a racist remark.
hhahahaha the joke is racism. It’s funny because racism hahahahahaha
Hmm. I suppose he is also a Dollar Store shoplifter.
Imagine doing jail time to voluntarily fly Spirit Airlines.
You would have to pay me to even set foot on one of their planes
yoloswag420 Your Frontier flight is now boarding Group 2 and Group hypocrites please be on board.
Ewwwww... Frontier's " Group #2 " always smells much worse than " Group #! " !!!
....lol
...Or when you're being escorted by law enforcement, in cuffs when being extradited / deported ??
...lol