A 35-year-old man, Tiron Alexander, was convicted by a federal jury of wire fraud and unlawful access to restricted areas after he traveled for free on more than 120 flights posing as a flight attendant.
A former American Airlines employee, Alexander exploited an internal regulation allowing crew members to fly as “nonrevenue” passengers on other airlines.
According to evidence presented during the trial, he impersonated a flight attendant on flights made between 2018 and 2024, before being arrested at the San Francisco airport while trying to board for Australia. The man provided false data, claiming to work for seven different airlines. He was found guilty last week. Sentencing is expected on August 25, 2025.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) led the investigation, pointing out that Alexander passed all security checks, including identity and physical scanners, adding that he “posed no direct threat.”
The discovery came after Spirit Airlines detected anomalies related to at least 34 flights associated with his data.
As People reports, the maximum penalty in the United States is 20 years in prison for each charge of wire fraud and 10 years for unlawful entry into protected areas. Fines could be up to $250,000 per count, for a maximum cumulative total of $1.25 million.
