https://onemileatatime.com/news/man-creatively-sneaks-onto-delta-flight/
The man reportedly intended to fly with Southwest to Austin. He had a “buddy pass,” which was presumably given to him by a Southwest employee, to be able to fly with the airline on a space available basis. So he cleared security with that standby pass, though unfortunately the Southwest flight was full, meaning he wouldn’t be able to take the flight.
Desperate to get to Austin, the man then used a different strategy. He went to the gate for the Delta flight to Austin, and used his phone to take pictures of the boarding passes of other passengers without their knowledge. No one noticed this at the time, but rather this was only uncovered using security camera footage after the fact.
He then boarded the aircraft using the barcode on another passenger’s boarding pass. Now, he did sort of think this through — he didn’t simply take the seat associated with that boarding pass, since he knew it would be occupied. Instead, he boarded and then tried to hide in the lavatory. The goal was to let everyone else board, and then take whatever empty seat was left.
The problem is, there were no empty seats on the flight. So when he emerged from the lavatory and the plane began taxiing, flight attendants realized something was wrong, and the plane returned to the gate. The aircraft was met by police, where the traveler “admitted he had made a mistake and was only trying get home.” Police say the man is being held on a federal detainer at the Salt Lake County Metro Jail. The flight ended up departing around 30 minutes late.
