Teen ‘tycoon’ takes airline bosses for a ride

[galaxy]

A teenager who suffers from autism has fooled aviation bosses into thinking he was a tycoon about to launch a new airline, in a hoax reminiscent of Steven Spielberg’s ‘Catch Me If You Can’.

The 17-year-old, from Yorkshire, posed as a businessman in his twenties, claiming to have a fleet of jets and a team of colleagues.

Using the pseudonym Adam Tait, he flew to Jersey to hold a meeting with the director of its airport and dealt with industry bosses over his proposals for a cut-price Channel Islands-based airline servicing most of Europe.

Tait’s performance was so convincing that he persuaded the executive to meet with him again the following week. His exploits echo the schemes of the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film ‘Catch Me If You Can’. The film, in turn, was based on the real life escapades of Frank Abagnale, who posed as an airline pilot from the age of 16 and 21.

To give his talks credibility, Tait bought up websites in the name of American Global Group and Island Airways, and said a US parent company had a readily available fleet of 12 jets.

Tait then approached various established airlines to ask whether they wanted to give him a franchise agreement. A number of different names were used, such as David Rich and Anita Dash, in telephone conversations and e-mail exchanges with senior airline executives to give the impression that he was part of a team.

The teenager managed to carry off the ruse for six months until journalists at a publication that had reported on his proposed business venture became suspicious.

According to the Daily Telegraph, he was questioned by Essex police while trying to gain access to a 93-seater jet at Southend airport, having convinced the plane’s marketing agent that his “company” wanted to lease it. The police will not be taking action against the teenager, who is reported to suffer from a form of autism and to be able to recall the exact detail of every airline’s flight schedule.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS ... 800574.cms

[stevie]

respect fot that guy!!!

[andorra-airport]

Same story long time ago:

Teenager launches his own airline

The 19-year-old has set up airline Alpha One Airways

A teenager dubbed "the baby Branson" is launching his own commercial airline.

Martin Halstead, 19, said his airline Alpha One Airways will start flying between Southampton and the Isle of Man on 7 November (2005)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 370912.stm

[regi]

It are people like this so called autistic teenager that change the world. Let us not forget that influential people like Henry Ford, Werner Von Braun and Howard Hughes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hughes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun
were acting "weird" in their teenage years , against the norm of those days.
A teenager who shows so much self esteem, initiative, ingenuity, ...should be encouraged, pampered, provoked to continue his efforts.
But no, all we do is put them on Relatine and erase possible great carreers and inventions.
I feel frustrated that I do not own a large company that could incorporate such a kid to see what could come out of it.
Instead of giving subsidies to foreign companies to take over Opel, they should make these boys CEO's of the bankrupt companies and let them play with it.