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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Startup airline not cleared for business

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

The state Office of Consumer Protection is probing claims by a startup airline promising $89 one-way fares from Honolulu to Los Angeles beginning in July.

Steve Levins, an attorney for the office, would not comment other than to say, "We have an investigation."

Mainline Airways LLC, based in Wellesley, Mass., is offering an introductory coach fare of $89 through its Web site.

The price is good between July 2003 and May 2004 for a Los Angeles-Honolulu route, according to the site.

The company says it will fly Boeing MD-10s refitted with leather chairs and personal televisions for every first-class and coach seat.

Mainline's Web site does not include telephone numbers for company officials. No one responded to e-mail inquiries.

Federal Aviation Administration officials in Honolulu and Los Angeles have no records of an airline going by the name Mainline Airways, said Donn Walker, spokes-man for the FAA's Western Pacific region.

Nor do they have record of a request by Mainline Airways to obtain a necessary operating certificate, Walker said.

About six months ago, the state Department of Transportation began corresponding with the company's CEO, said DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa.

The department sent the company an application and other forms needed to fly out of Hawai'i, Ishikawa said.

"We haven't gotten them back," Ishikawa said. "Without them, they cannot operate here. "

On May 6, Mainline's CEO told DOT officials that he plans to switch from an airline operation to a charter operation, meaning Mainline would pay another company to fly the aircraft.

"He hasn't informed us which company will operate the aircraft, and we need that information soon if they want to do business here," Ishikawa said.