Mainline founder
says state will
drop lawsuitThe state says it's going ahead
with complaints against Luke Thompson
Maintaining he did nothing wrong in his attempt to launch a new airline, Mainline Airways founder Luke Thompson said in a court filing there is no reason for him to appear at a hearing scheduled to take place in Honolulu today.
Thompson, who was a Massachusetts college student without aircraft or permits when he started promoting $89 Los Angeles-Honolulu flights on the Internet earlier this year, said in a July 2 filing that he did not expect to appear in court because he was confident the state would drop its action against him.
The state's lawsuit is still alive, said Stephen Levins, director of the state Office of Consumer Protection. At a hearing last month, Circuit Judge Eden Elizabeth Hifo ruled that if Thompson did not make the court appearance scheduled for today, or have an attorney represent him, an injunction would be issued immediately stopping him from any promotion of the airline.
In his court filing, Thompson said that is moot because all sales stopped June 10, all Hawaii customers have been repaid and the only thing holding up repayment to the rest of his mainland customers is that Mainline's accounts were frozen after what Thompson said were undeserved charges of fraud from state and federal officials.
"All sales were canceled on June 10, 2003, and all customers were notified," Thompson said in the Hawaii court statement that he filed on his own behalf, without an attorney. "Per the terms of purchase, we have 30 days from that date of cancellation to refund those customers. Most customers (includes all customers based in Hawaii) have already been refunded."
He repeated earlier claims that Mainline was never an airline and would have used a charter service to provide the aircraft, the service and the crews. Thompson said he wasn't selling tickets, only "pre-reservations" that would become tickets when a fully licensed charter operation was in place.
U.S. Department of Transportation officials said that even if that were so, Thompson could not legally take such reservations unless his charter operator was registered with the government. By the time he killed the business a month ago he had not selected a charter operator.
In a separate filing responding to state charges against him personally, Thompson said he should not be sued because he worked for Mainline as a volunteer and was not to receive a salary until the company became profitable or Aug. 1, whichever was later.
The state Office of Consumer Protection said that as of late yesterday, the Circuit Court hearing was still scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
The state moved last month to stop Thompson from taking any more money from consumers until he could show he had all the state and federal permits the airline would need. The Office of Consumer Protection also asked the court to order Mainline to make full refunds to consumers hurt by his failure to provide the service.
Mark Recktenwald, director of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, said when the suit was filed last month that Thompson appeared to have only a Web site and "it takes more than a Web site to start an airline."
Mainline has said it took a total of 124 pre-reservations.