State grounds Mainline
A Web site purporting to offer
cut-rate trips from Los Angeles
to Honolulu is ordered to stop
taking people's money
A mainland businessman who was told by a Hawaii court to stop selling tickets on an airline that doesn't have any planes or service authority says whatever is being said against him is "hype perpetuated by competition."
Consumer alert
The state Office of Consumer Protection says anyone who has purchased a ticket from Mainline Airways should call its office. The number is 586-2653.
Luke R. Thompson, whose Mainline Airways is now subject to a Hawaii Circuit Court restraining order telling him to stop selling those $89-and-up tickets for Los Angeles-Honolulu service, said yesterday he has done nothing wrong.
State and federal officials disagree. And a Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection investigation has found Mainline might have improperly sold tickets to hundreds of travelers.
State Circuit Judge Eden Elizabeth Hifo signed an order Friday temporarily stopping Mainline and Thompson from selling tickets because they have not complied with regulations governing such transactions.
It was not clear late yesterday whether that order could affect Internet sales from a base outside Hawaii, but Thompson said the point is moot because he is not selling "tickets" as such.
He said Mainline has been taking "pre-sale reservations," in which customers can agree to a certain price for future travel and authorize a charge against a credit card. He said he is doing it that way because he knows he needs some authorizations and charter companies have been dragging their feet in making a deal with him.
If all goes as expected, the travel will be provided and if not, Mainline's credit-card system will repay the charges, said Thompson, who acknowledges he has no airline experience.
Thompson said he hopes to have an aircraft and crew leased by the end of this week and that all required approvals should be in place by the planned startup date of July 3.
He said his company always intended only to be a ticket seller with actual flight service being provided under the Mainline Airways name by a charter business.
State and federal officials say Mainline Airways could not legally sell tickets until it had either gained an airline operating certificate of its own, or shown by a filing with the U.S. Department of Transportation that it had a qualified, licensed charter operator running its flights.
Thompson, who was described by Hawaii officials as operating from Pennsylvania, had in fact operated from Wellesley, Mass. He now says the company's base has moved to Henderson, Nev.
Meanwhile, Mainline's Web site, www.mainlineairways.com, has changed a little. As of late yesterday, it still said it was taking bookings and that it will start flying the Los Angeles-Honolulu route July 3. However, it no longer has the detailed description of its aircraft it posted a few weeks ago. At that time, it claimed to be using the Boeing MD-10 model, the new name for the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 being phased out by major airlines. There were detailed seating charts on the Web site.
Aviation trade press reports say Thompson is negotiating for aircraft and crews in what is known as a "wet lease" -- Mainline would sell the tickets but the operator would be responsible for all aircraft operations, including the required licenses and permits, as well as crews.
Thompson said by e-mail yesterday that Mainline "currently has several aircraft available for when we need them" and the company he is negotiating with is the biggest aircraft-and-crew leasing business in the world, with the slogan "The Airline for the Airlines."
He would not disclose the name of the business, but that slogan is used by Air Atlanta Icelandic, based in Reykjavic, Iceland. Air Atlanta Icelandic has a fleet of Boeing 747 and 767 aircraft that it leases out in deals similar to the one Thompson described. Representatives of the airline could not be reached for comment.
Hawaii officials are skeptical about the whole deal. "It takes more than a Web site to start an airline. From the evidence gathered thus far, it does not appear that Mainline has much more than that," said Mark Recktenwald, director of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
The restraining order, good for 10 days and a first step in getting a permanent injunction, was sought to stop Mainline from "continuing to take consumers' money unless it can show that it is fully capable of meeting all legal requirements," Recktenwald said.
A hearing on the state's case against Mainline Airlines is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday June 16 before Judge Eden Elizabeth Hifo in Hawaii Circuit Court in Honolulu. The state seeks restitution for consumers damaged by what it says is deceptive practices by the airline and wants an order barring Mainline from future deceptions.
