College student created fake airline, officials say BOSTON (AP) =97 A college freshman created a fake airline that offered=20 bargain-priced tickets on flights between Honolulu and Los Angeles,=20 authorities said Thursday. Luke Thompson, of Yardley, Pa., incorporated=20 Mainline Airways in Pennsylvania, established a business address in the=20 Boston suburb of Wellesley and set up an elaborate Web site, according to=20 Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly. Thompson, who attends Babson= =20 College in Wellesley, offered fares as low as $89 one way between Los=20 Angeles and Honolulu, Reilly said. Flights were to begin July 3, but=20 Mainline had neither planes, crews nor the required permits and approvals=20 as recently as a few weeks ago. Thompson told The Associated Press that the= =20 allegations were "absolutely untrue," but he did acknowledge that he was=20 the only person behind the company, other than a consultant and an investor= =20 he did not identify. "We had every intention of doing this operation," he=20 said. "We had 15 airlines we had contacted or were in serious negotiations= =20 with, regarding the actual providing of the (air) service." He offered no=20 details on which airlines were involved. Thompson's Web site, which has=20 been taken down, described the company's "fleet," outlined various policies= =20 and answered travelers' questions. Reilly won a temporary restraining order= =20 Wednesday that keeps Thompson from using any Mainline bank accounts for=20 anything other than providing refunds. A judge in Hawaii last week ordered= =20 ticket sales halted. Thompson faxed letters earlier this week to Hawaii=20 officials, promising refunds by the end of the week to 120=20 "pre-reservations" and maintaining that Mainline Airways was "only to be=20 the tour operator." *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************