3 PHL airline workers indicted for allegedly skimming $283,000 from flight upgrade charges

Three airline workers based at Philadelphia International Airport were indicted for allegedly defrauding their employer of more than $283,000 in a scheme to skim money from upgraded flights, U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced Tuesday.

Taylor Thompson, 27, and Tiana Fairfax, 29, both of Philadelphia, and Theodore Robinson, 29, of Upper Darby, were arrested and charged by indictment with seven counts of wire fraud, Romero said.

Thompson was a supervisor for an airline, which prosecutors did not name except to say it is a national carrier headquartered in Florida, and had authority to upgrade flights, which would cost customers more except in certain circumstances, Romero said.

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In 2017 and 2018, Thompson allegedly schemed with Fairfax and Robinson, who worked as customer service agents, to pocket money intended for upgrade fees that were supposed to go to the airline. The money was directed to a Cash App account, Romero said.

The three defendants and two unnamed “co-schemers” collected money from more than 1,700 modified flight reservations, Romero said.

Jacqueline Maguire, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, said in a statement: “Supplementing your paycheck by scamming your employer is a criminally bad career move. Fraud is never the ticket to lasting financial gain, as these defendants have now discovered. Instead, it’s landed them in court to answer for their alleged actions.”