Monday October 1, 2007
Mesa Air Group was dealt a setback Friday by a US federal judge who ruled that it had misused confidential information obtained from Hawaiian Airlines when it was considering investing in the financially ailing carrier.
The pre-trial ruling affirms the basic thrust of Hawaiian's lawsuit against Mesa and pushes the sides to a trial slated to begin in a US Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu tomorrow. 
Hawaiian is seeking $173 million in damages and wants the court to ban Mesa subsidiary go! from operating for a full year. Mesa touched off an acrimonious inter-island fare war when it launched go! last year, offering prices far below those of Hawaiian and Aloha Airlines. Hawaiian alleges that Mesa launched go! on the basis of confidential information to which it was privy during Hawaiian's bankruptcy restructuring. Mesa has denied using any information other than that which is publicly available.
But Judge Robert Faris ruled Friday that "Mesa misused confidential information when deciding to enter the Hawaii market. The misuse was a substantial factor in Mesa's decision on entering the Hawaii market." He also stated that Mesa CFO Peter Murnane wrongly destroyed evidence pertinent to the case. Murnane is on administrative leave
(ATWOnline, Sept. 28). Faris said he did not believe that anyone at Mesa other than Murnane participated in the destruction of evidence but that Mesa bore responsibility since Murnane is its third-ranking executive.
by Sandra Arnoult
http://atwonline.com/news/other.html...=10%2F1%2F2007