Man Nabs More Than 100 Free Trips by Pretending To Be a Flight Attendant

A fake flight attendant is facing the music. On June 5, a federal jury convicted Tiron Alexander of wire fraud and entering into a secure area of an airport by false pretenses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

During the trial, prosecutors Michael C. Shepherd, Zachary A. Keller, and Andres E. Chinchilla presented evidence that showed how, from 2018 to 2024, Alexander posed as a flight attendant to get free trips.

According to the press release, Alexander booked free flights on an airline carrier’s website that were only available to pilots and flight attendants.

On the online application required to book those flights, Alexander claimed that he worked for seven different airlines. He further alleged that he had approximately 30 different badge numbers and dates of hire.

Using that method, Alexander wound up flying for free 34 times. He did so by pretending to be a flight attendant for other airlines.

On top of that, he repeated the fraudulent steps on three other airlines, ultimately booking more than 120 free flights.

The Transportation Security Administration investigated the case.

Alexander, 35, will be sentenced on Aug. 25. He faces up to 30 years in federal prison.

Recent Incidents during flights

While Alexander was apparently eager to travel via plane, the skies have not been so friendly as of late. From pigeons on board to evacuations, travel via air has been incident-filled as of late.

Just last month, a woman was arrested after she allegedly repeatedly hit a child who called her “fat” and “Miss Piggy” when she couldn’t fit into the seat on a plane.

The woman is accused of hitting the child with her fist, striking the kid on their head with a water bottle, and of slamming the little one’s head into the airplane’s window.

This all happened while the woman, who was traveling with the child is question, was heading home from a Disney World vacation.