Mainline Airways

Mainline Airways LLC, a company offering US$89.00 tickets--half the going rate--for airline service between Honolulu and Los Angeles, was accused in June 2003 of being a fictitious airline. Lawsuits in Hawaii and Massachusetts allege Mainline did not intend to honor its low price.

The founder and self-identified chief executive officer, Luke Thompson, a college freshman, was allegedly running the company out of his dorm room at Babson College.

Temporary injunctions were placed against Thompson and his company, alleging Mainline was just a web site, the now defunct MainLineAirways.com (http://www.mainlineairways.com/) [1] (http://216.239.41.100/search?q=cache:www.mainlineairways.com/). Authorities said the company had no planes, no crews, and no permits to fly. In June 2003 Judge Eden Elizabeth Hifo[?] in Hawaii ordered the company to stop selling tickets, and a few days later Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly froze Mainline's bank accounts[?].

Thompson claimed his company was just a tour provider, not an actual airline. "[Government authorities] said we're an airline, which is completely wrong," he said. "It's something they assumed." He maintained his intentions to the tickets. "We had every intention of doing this operation. We had 15 airlines we had contacted or were in serious negotiations with, regarding the actual providing of the [air] service," he said, without giving any specifics.

Thompson acknowledged he's the only person behind the company, other than a consultant and an investor, whom he did not identnify. He was ordered to refund all ticket sales.

The lawsuit filed in Hawaii demands a permanent injunction against Mainline, full restitution for people who purchased tickets, and civil penalties for "engaging in unfair or deceptive trade practices."

Wide-body flights were scheduled to start July 3, 2003.

InteliSys[?] announced in January 2003 that Mainline had selected its reservations system. [2] (http://216.239.41.100/search?q=cache:KeQFiz9c8JMJ:www.intelisys.ca/content/intelisys/news/InteliNews.asp%3FNewsID%3D27++site:www.intelisys.ca+%22mainline+airways%22+intelisys&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)