Posted on: Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Ticket sales by 'airline' halted
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
State officials will seek a permanent injunction next week after winning a temporary order against a Mainland company that may have gotten hundreds of would-be travelers to buy $89 tickets from Honolulu to Los Angeles.
Federal officials are also investigating claims made by Mainline Airways on its Web site that it will begin flights in July for a Los Angeles-Honolulu route, at a time when major airlines are charging premium summer rates.
Mainline is not certified to fly by either Hawai'i or Federal Aviation Administration officials. And under federal regulations, "no one can advertise to offer airline services unless they are authorized by the FAA to act as an airline," said FAA spokesman Donn Walker.
State officials with the Office of Consumer Protection obtained a temporary restraining order against Mainline on Friday to prohibit the company from selling tickets or collecting money before it complies with federal and state laws.
"Basically this airline, or whatever it calls itself, has not even begun to meet the requirements to operate as an airline under the FAA rules and regulations and also has not met any of the state requirements," Levins said. Even if the company plans to operate as a charter, Levins said, it still has not complied with state and federal requirements.
State officials believe that hundreds of Hawai'i and Mainland customers may have bought tickets with Mainline.
"The investigation wasn't going to be dictated by the breadth of the harm," Levins said. "The fact that even one or two consumers paid money to someone who wasn't supposed to take it was enough to seek the temporary restraining order. ... We don't want any more people in Hawai'i or around the country to be giving over their money to someone who has not taken the necessary steps to operate."
State officials initially believed Mainline was run by Luke R. Thompson out of Massachusetts. They now believe Thompson is in Pennsylvania.
Via e-mail with The Advertiser, Thompson said he is now located in Henderson, Nev., but his company is only a tour operator.
"We are not responsible for the operation from Point A to Point B of the aircraft," Thompson wrote. "That is being 100 percent sub-contracted to a supplemental direct air carrier."
Thompson said his company makes it clear that customers are only making "pre-sale reservations. ... If we cannot turn their purchases into complete reservations prior to their travel, we must reverse the transaction providing them with a full reversal of any activity to their credit card."
Mainline had wanted to file the necessary paperwork with the U.S. Department of Transportation by March, Thompson said, "but unfortunately the companies we are dealing with for this are VERY slow and the fact that we drive a hard bargain makes it even slower."
Mainline has been offering fares as low as $89 for one-way flights from Honolulu to Los Angeles while other airlines are making round-trip Los Angeles flights for as much as $1,000.
Mainline said its price is good until May 2004, according to the company's Web site.
On that site, Mainline advertises Boeing MD-10s refitted with leather chairs and personal televisions for every seat.
Mainline's offer has attracted considerable attention among potential travelers and travel agents, who are not part of Mainline's reservation system.
"Something like an $89 fare is just too good to be true," said Duke Ah Moo, vice president of Pleasant Island Holidays travel agency. "Consumers are wise to question the validity of the offer. ... It's a big question mark, what this company is and what they're selling."
But Walker has a few answers.
"Mainline Airways is not an airline," Walker said. "It's a web site. That is the fact on the ground as of today."
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
The restraining order is good for 10 days. State officials will seek a permanentr injunction at a June 16 hearing before Circuit Court Judge Eden Elizabeth Hifo, said Stephen Levins, an attorney with the Office of Consumer Protection.
Where to call
The state Office of Consumer Protection is interested in talking to anyone who may have purchased Mainline Airways tickets; they may call 586-2653.
