A New Airline, imagine that...

[C601]

I dont know who this guy is, but i do know this, there is not DC-10 PAX been converted to a MD-10 PAX, the only ones i know about is with Fedex with 50 DC-10s converted with another 70 options.

The conversion its self takes about 120days, and to get 1 converted you need a Slot, any slot been used Fedex has it under the agreement they have with Boeing

They have no Agreement with leasing or using Gates at LAX, who knows with HNL, but would not take much to find out .

I've checked with all my sources and i can not find any DC-10/MD-11/MD-10 registered to Mainline Airways or to a MR Luke R. Thompson as it states in the Article.

" Massachusetts businessman Luke R. Thompson, founder and chief executive officer of Mainline, said he owns the aircraft and is close to concluding negotiations with an outside contractor to run the plane"

And as Far as this guys experience with importing (what???) and malpractice insurance, i can't find anything on him.

There are other points that would be interesting to bring up but whats the point.

"As soon as a contract is signed" what contract ???? how can u sell tickets if its a contract lol

I would not get to excited until I see a MD-10 PAX sitting at LAX with this guys name on it

I'd love to see his Business Plan though.

 

[Cardinal]

For the price of a DC-10 tire assembly they could produce a website that doesn't scream Low Budget, and perhaps make a good first impression with passengers, but whatever.

 

[metrodriver]

I thought fedex was still trying to get its first md10 approved. Somewhere I found a list with dc10's that fedex has bought over the last few years, and almost every single one has a note that says 'to be scrapped'. So I wonder what their intentions are, ecpecially with the A380 coming in 2008.
So I guess Mainline will be using Boeing DC10's

Laker was very succesful with its low prices and DC10's across the atlantic. It was BA who trew so much legal bs at them that they finally had to stop. They still operate out of the bahamas, with a lot smaller aircraft.

The reason a lot of pax airlines want to get rid of the MD11 are its economics. It never lived up to the promises made by MD, especially range wise. It's a good freighter, but with pax a 767 will do almost the same

 

[C601]

Fedex....

metrodriver


I could give you the list, but as of right now Fedex has aleast 20+ MD-10F's flying and in service.

Of the top of my head

N360FE to N364FE i know are converted DC-10Fs to MD10s. Like i said there are aleast 20+ in service with more to come over the next few yrs....

A380 coming in 2008., I'll see it when i believe it..lol 2008 is lightyears away in Aviation, anything could happen between now and then......


As Far as Fedex DC-10s been scrapped, yes they have have many DC-10s Scrapped.

The DC-10s that Fedex scrapped with built in 1971-74, most (not all) the DC-10s converted to MD-10s where built around 1980-86 later models, i guess for Obvious reasons.

 

[metrodriver]

thanks for the info, I didn't know that they were that far with conversions.

 

[LAZYB]

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.
******************

 

[C425Driver]

Imagine that.....

Can't seem to get the website to work now. I tried the link in the original post and I also did a search on yahoo - nothin'!

Hope too many people didn't get scammed.

C425Driver

 

[JJJ]

Mainline Airways to give refunds

Troubled start-up company Mainline Airways, which advertised $89 one-way flights from Honolulu to Los Angeles, has canceled its plans, shut down its Web site and promises refunds by Friday.

State officials with the Office of Consumer Protection obtained a temporary restraining order against Mainline last week, prohibiting the company from selling tickets or collecting money before it complies with federal and state laws. Stephen Levins, an attorney with the office, said he still plans to pursue a permanent injunction in Circuit Court on Monday.

Mainline CEO Luke R. Thompson, who is currently based in Henderson, Nev., and believed to be a college student, said in a letter to the Office of Consumer Protection yesterday that the company received 120 "pre-reservations" from potential travelers — a number Thompson called "much too low."

"Because of this action, we anticipate that public sentiment regarding Mainline Airways will fall to the ground as a result," Thompson wrote. "At this point, we feel that we will actually achieve better public relations by canceling our plans and insuring that all credit card authorization transactions are reversed rather than by continuing operations as planned."

Roughly 50 percent of the transactions already have been reversed, Thompson wrote. The rest should be done by today, he said.

Thompson did not respond to e-mail and telephone requests from The Advertiser for an interview. A school registrar said a Luke Thompson just completed his freshman year at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., and will return in the fall as a sophomore.

Levins called Thompson's two-page letter to the consumer protection office "just one piece of correspondence at this point."

"To the extent that consumers can recover restitution, that's one of the things that we ask be done," Levins said. "And it would be beneficial to consumers that it be done."

Mainline is not certified to fly by either Hawai'i or Federal Aviation Administration officials. FAA officials have said that it's a federal offense for anyone to "advertise to offer airline services unless they are authorized by the FAA to act as an airline."

In more recent correspondence with The Advertiser, Thompson has said Mainline would serve as a charter service. On Monday, he told The Advertiser that his company would only serve as a tour operator.

"We had every intention of operating, but we cannot fill the planes now when the people of Hawaii are under the assumption that we are a 'fake airline,' " Thompson wrote in his letter to the Office of Consumer Protection.

"...We do not want a bad taste in the mouths of Hawaiians when they hear the name of our company, since we plan to come back in the future operating our own aircrafts," he said.

Allison Ferguson, a fifth-grade teacher in Provo, Utah, is glad that she and three other teachers didn't take Mainline's offer.

But they were tempted.

"It was almost too good to be true," said Ferguson, 27, who wanted to take her first trip to Hawai'i. "Apparently it was too good to be true."

Instead, they each booked a $750 round-trip ticket out of Los Angeles on another airline, which meant one of the original five friends had to drop out because of the price.

"We were very disappointed," Ferguson said.

She and the three others plan to arrive in Honolulu on June 20 for a 10-day stay.

"We're still going," she said. "We just had to go a different, more expensive way."


----

"Aircrafts" huh?

 

[kaufhaus]

Mainline Airways to give refunds

Allison Ferguson, a fifth-grade teacher in Provo, Utah, is glad that she and three other teachers didn't take Mainline's offer.

But they were tempted.

"It was almost too good to be true," said Ferguson, 27, who wanted to take her first trip to Hawai'i. "Apparently it was too good to be true."

----

Sadly, this kinda says it all

 

[C601]

Mainline

I love it .. lol

" Troubled start-up company Mainline Airways"

What the airline is in trouble already and theres no sign of a jet nor the 1st take off or landing.

Nice 1 Mr CEO, stick to Flight sim 2002 )

 

[Buckeye]

Here is some info...www.teenirc.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=87
it was a hoax. Smart kid, he should keep the money, for being able to pull it off.

 

[jetpilotcrj700]

PRANK

I hope this guy gets the book thrown at him! LAS TV reported today that his "office"address was a Mail box's etc in Henderson NV.

 

[CCDiscoB]

I wonder how many resumes he received.

 

[ATR-DRIVR]

Well, as reported on FNC a bit ago, this whole deal was made up on the internet by a 20yr old college student! No plane, company or anything else except whatever was made up in his mind!
cute. Hope he goes to jail.

 

[LongBoarder]

Mainline

BOSTON - A college freshman created a fake airline that offered bargain-priced tickets on flights between Honolulu and Los Angeles, authorities said Thursday.



Luke Thompson, of Yardley, Pa., incorporated Mainline Airways in Pennsylvania, established a business address in the Boston suburb of Wellesley and set up an elaborate Web site, according to Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly.


Thompson, who attends Babson College in Wellesley, offered fares as low as $89 one way between Los Angeles and Honolulu, Reilly said. Flights were to begin July 3, but Mainline had neither planes, crews nor the required permits and approvals as recently as a few weeks ago.


Thompson told The Associated Press that the allegations were "absolutely untrue," but he did acknowledge that he was the only person behind the company, other than a consultant and an investor he did not identify.


"We had every intention of doing this operation," he said. "We had 15 airlines we had contacted or were in serious negotiations with, regarding the actual providing of the (air) service."


He offered no details on which airlines were involved.


Thompson's Web site, which has been taken down, described the company's "fleet," outlined various policies and answered travelers' questions.


Reilly won a temporary restraining order Wednesday that keeps Thompson from using any Mainline bank accounts for anything other than providing refunds. A judge in Hawaii last week ordered ticket sales halted.


Thompson faxed letters earlier this week to Hawaii officials, promising refunds by the end of the week to 120 "pre-reservations" and maintaining that Mainline Airways was "only to be the tour operator."