A former airline employee was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison on Monday for fraudulently obtaining over $600,000 worth of airline tickets, upgrades, and more, according to a press release from the FBI.
Chaculvin Hayes, a 37-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida, worked for GAT Airline Ground Support a contractor that partners with major carriers to provide ticketing and other services for airlines.
Through his work, Hayes had access to the ticketing systems for airlines like United, Delta, and American at Hollywood Burbank Airport from early 2017 until late 2019. He used his access to exploit the so-called “waivers and favors” system, which is meant to be used by customer service employees to make special accommodations for airline passengers who are having difficulties.
Hayes used his access to upgrade tickets to first class without fees, change travel dates without fees, and create Electronic Travel Coupons (ETCs) which can be used like vouchers, according to the FBI.
Hayes apparently wasn’t doing this for himself. Instead, he used an alias “Neeve Andrews,” to sell the heavily discounted tickets and vouchers while taking payment from customers. Hayes also changed hundreds of Passenger Name Records (PNRs), according to the FBI, to issue the vouchers.
Hayes pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced Monday to 16 months by United States District Judge John F. Walter. Hayes and his co-conspirators have been ordered to pay $602,886.18 in restitution.
Hayes appears to be a musician, according to his IMDb page, which lists both his real name and his alias, Neeve Andrews. The listing includes work as a dancer for a Gladys Knight video in 2015 and slide guitarist in a video for Brandy in 2016.
