LAZYB
Time wounds all heels.
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2001
- Posts
- 1,117
ALL THE NEWS THAT FIT TO PRINT
Judge Gets Tough on Purported Airline
HONOLULU (AP) - A judge has granted a request by Hawaii officials and ordered a company claiming to be an airline not to sell any more bargain-priced tickets between Honolulu and Los Angeles.
The state obtained a temporary restraining order against Mainline Airways LLC after an investigation found the company had not filed an application with the Federal Aviation Administration to operate a charter airline and doesn't have any planes, officials said Monday.
``It takes more than a Web site to start an airline,'' said Mark Recktenwald, director of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. ``From the evidence gathered thus far it does not appear that Mainline has much more than that.''
Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Hifo, who issued the temporary restraining order on Friday, will hold a preliminary injunction hearing on the order and on a lawsuit against the company next Monday.
Mainline Airways has been offering fares as low as $89, plus $30 in taxes and fees, for one-way flights between Honolulu and Los Angeles starting July 3. That is about half the lowest fares offered by established airlines.
The Web site was still operating on Monday, with a reservations section inviting passengers to purchase nonrefundable tickets by credit card.
Luke R. Thompson, named in the court order and identified on a company letterhead as Mainline's chief executive, responded to a request for an interview by fax on Monday. The fax said he wasn't aware of the court order and had not been notified.
``Until I see the order, I must assume that this is hype being perpetuated by competition,'' he wrote.
Thompson offered no background on himself or independent verification that his company exists as an airline. He did not immediately return calls to a number on the letterhead.
Stephen Levins, spokesman for the state Office of Consumer Protection, said the state has tried to notify Thompson, but he was unaware whether he had received the actual order.
Levins said that although the company claims to operate from Wellesley, Mass., officials believe Thompson is located in Yardley, Pa. The Secretary of State's office in Massachusetts does not list the airline as a licensed state business.
Thompson said in his fax that he is now located in Henderson, Nev. The fax listed a Henderson street address with a telephone number in New Jersey and a fax number in New York City.
Thompson, in the fax, said his company's plans to file necessary papers with the Department of Transportation have been hampered by other companies, which he said are moving ``VERY slow and the fact that we drive a hard bargain makes it even slower.''
The fax says transactions done on his Web site are considered ``pre-sale'' reservations, and that customers will receive credit on their cards if the company is unable to honor their reservations.
But the company has violated an FAA regulation prohibiting anyone from advertising or offering flights without the proper authorization from the FAA, said Tweet Coleman, the agency's Pacific representative.
``We were aware that they were only a Web site, that they are not an airline,'' she said.
Levins said his office has received calls from some of the people who have already purchased tickets from the Web site. It was unclear how many people had used the site.
The company claims to operate ``an exclusive fleet of state-of-the-art, Boeing commercial aircraft.'' But the state has no information that Mainline even has an airplane, Levins said.
Thompson said that is because his company plans to subcontract the flights.
The company also appears to have no authority to operate out of Los Angeles or Honolulu, and has no gates, desks or employees at either airport, Levins said.
The state has also filed a lawsuit charging Mainline and Thompson with engaging in unfair or deceptive practices by misrepresenting their authority to sell tickets, their ability to fly and their carrier status.
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Judge Gets Tough on Purported Airline
HONOLULU (AP) - A judge has granted a request by Hawaii officials and ordered a company claiming to be an airline not to sell any more bargain-priced tickets between Honolulu and Los Angeles.
The state obtained a temporary restraining order against Mainline Airways LLC after an investigation found the company had not filed an application with the Federal Aviation Administration to operate a charter airline and doesn't have any planes, officials said Monday.
``It takes more than a Web site to start an airline,'' said Mark Recktenwald, director of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. ``From the evidence gathered thus far it does not appear that Mainline has much more than that.''
Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Hifo, who issued the temporary restraining order on Friday, will hold a preliminary injunction hearing on the order and on a lawsuit against the company next Monday.
Mainline Airways has been offering fares as low as $89, plus $30 in taxes and fees, for one-way flights between Honolulu and Los Angeles starting July 3. That is about half the lowest fares offered by established airlines.
The Web site was still operating on Monday, with a reservations section inviting passengers to purchase nonrefundable tickets by credit card.
Luke R. Thompson, named in the court order and identified on a company letterhead as Mainline's chief executive, responded to a request for an interview by fax on Monday. The fax said he wasn't aware of the court order and had not been notified.
``Until I see the order, I must assume that this is hype being perpetuated by competition,'' he wrote.
Thompson offered no background on himself or independent verification that his company exists as an airline. He did not immediately return calls to a number on the letterhead.
Stephen Levins, spokesman for the state Office of Consumer Protection, said the state has tried to notify Thompson, but he was unaware whether he had received the actual order.
Levins said that although the company claims to operate from Wellesley, Mass., officials believe Thompson is located in Yardley, Pa. The Secretary of State's office in Massachusetts does not list the airline as a licensed state business.
Thompson said in his fax that he is now located in Henderson, Nev. The fax listed a Henderson street address with a telephone number in New Jersey and a fax number in New York City.
Thompson, in the fax, said his company's plans to file necessary papers with the Department of Transportation have been hampered by other companies, which he said are moving ``VERY slow and the fact that we drive a hard bargain makes it even slower.''
The fax says transactions done on his Web site are considered ``pre-sale'' reservations, and that customers will receive credit on their cards if the company is unable to honor their reservations.
But the company has violated an FAA regulation prohibiting anyone from advertising or offering flights without the proper authorization from the FAA, said Tweet Coleman, the agency's Pacific representative.
``We were aware that they were only a Web site, that they are not an airline,'' she said.
Levins said his office has received calls from some of the people who have already purchased tickets from the Web site. It was unclear how many people had used the site.
The company claims to operate ``an exclusive fleet of state-of-the-art, Boeing commercial aircraft.'' But the state has no information that Mainline even has an airplane, Levins said.
Thompson said that is because his company plans to subcontract the flights.
The company also appears to have no authority to operate out of Los Angeles or Honolulu, and has no gates, desks or employees at either airport, Levins said.
The state has also filed a lawsuit charging Mainline and Thompson with engaging in unfair or deceptive practices by misrepresenting their authority to sell tickets, their ability to fly and their carrier status.
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