Company
From communication between Mainline and airport officials during the planning stage in 2002, the company intended to operate leased aircraft, older wide-body L1011's refitted with new interiors featuring leather seats and TV's at each seat, a copy of JetBlue Airways. However this proved a daunting project, and in February 2003 (prior to the airline making any "pre-reservation" sales), the plan was axed to chartering the 6-times-weekly flight from a supplemental air carrier's aircraft. Leather seats were abandoned and "TV's at every seat" now meant portable DVD players for each passenger.
Unrelated to the change to chartered aircraft, the "free cocktails" promise was severely restricted and barely mentioned on the company's website.
Confusion and allegations of fraud against the company resulted largely from it not taking any steps towards the 6 month FAA safety certification process required for new airlines, while flights were to being in 3 weeks when the lawsuit was finally filed. Since the company didn't plan to operate its own flights, it did not need FAA safety certification, but did need to properly notify the airports of its change its intentions from starting airline service to only the chartering aircraft and selling seats. It failed to do so.
Before Thompson closed it in June 2003, the website had indicated that a handful of flights during the company's first week of proposed service in July 2003 had actually sold out and reservations could not be made. Thompson says word-of-mouth was bringing in droves of customers when they expected to not receive any or minimal bookings prior to advertising. Thompson stated the company was about to begin an expensive ad campaign focused on radio.
The route the company planned to serve (California to Hawaii) has high traffic volume but at the time few deeply discounted fares from competitors, and Thompson sustains that the market was overpriced at and potentially "a very profitable charter route with the opportunity to sell high-margin vacation packages in the future."
According to IRS tax records, Mainline Airways posted a substantial loss in 2003 including $12,000 of call center expenses and forfeiture a $20,000 deposit on an aircraft charter contract.
Mainline Airways was incorporated as Mainline Airways LLC in Pennsylvania on December 12, 2002. Thompson stated in 2005 that if he starts a similar operation in the future, it will likely be an international route from the eastern U.S.
Read more about this topic: Mainline Airways
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