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, Pennsylvania, 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.
Apparently, Thompson was collecting cash "pre-reservation" deposits. He maintains that he was negotiating with "real" airlines, and intended "only to be the tour operator," CNN reports here.