A Southwest Airlines employee was arrested for stealing hundreds of flight vouchers from St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL), where he was employed.
The airline began investigating the incident on August 1, 2023, after discovering irregularities. The investigation process lasted until September 28, 2023, but details of the incident were not disclosed to local media until August 8, 2024.
The theft was committed by a former Southwest customer service representative, who confessed in a written statement that he printed hundreds of fake flight vouchers with the names of previous passengers and then used those vouchers for his own benefit.
The St. Louis District Attorney later determined that a total of $79,000 worth of flight vouchers had been stolen.
The employee agreed to return the stolen vouchers, and when STL airport police escorted him to his work locker, he handed over 119 travel vouchers valued at $36,300. Local authorities later discovered that the employee had resold the vouchers four times and received money for them.
During police questioning, the suspect said he taught himself how to create the vouchers and claimed he was the only person at STL airport who could do so.
The agent received a summons to appear in court on September 16, 2024. Southwest Airlines confirmed that he was no longer an employee of the company.
