Sir Frederick Alfred Laker (6 August 1922 – 9 February 2006) was an English airline entrepreneur, best known for founding
Laker Airways
Laker Airways was a private British airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It was originally a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide. Its head office was located at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.
It became the seco ...
in 1966, which went bankrupt in 1982. Known as Freddie Laker, he was one of the first airline owners to adopt the "
low cost / no-frills" airline
business model
A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, social, ...
that has since proven to be very successful worldwide with companies such as
Norwegian Air
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norwegian low-cost airline and Norway's largest airline. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe behind Wizz Air, easyJet and Ryanair, the second-largest airline in Scandinavia ...
,
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
,
easyJet
EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...
,
AirAsia
Capital A Berhad, () operating as AirAsia (stylized as ''airasia'') is a Malaysian multinational low-cost airline headquartered near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the largest airline in Malaysia by fleet size and destinations. AirAsia operate ...
and
WestJet
WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...
.
Biography
Laker came from
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, and attended the
Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys
Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys (also known as The Langton Grammar School for Boys and simply referred to as The Langton) is an 11–18 foundation grammar school for boys and mixed sixth form in Canterbury, Kent, England. It was establish ...
, before starting work in aviation with
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...
in
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
. He was a member of the
Air Transport Auxiliary
The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factori ...
during and immediately after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
(1941–46).
He then worked briefly for
British European Airways
British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974.
BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The a ...
(BEA) and London Aero Motor Services (LAMS).
[''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, p. 12] Having borrowed
£38,000 from a wealthy friend to top up his own savings of £4,500, he subsequently went into business as a war-surplus aircraft dealer. The
Soviet blockade of West Berlin in 1948–49, during which all available aircraft were needed to fly essential supplies into
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
, allowed his business to flourish, as this provided more than a year's work for his planes and employees almost immediately. During this period Laker often flew the aircraft himself.
[''Cosmopolitan ("I'm Freddie, Fly me!")'', Hearst Magazines UK, London, August 1978, pp. 94 ...]
By 1954,
Channel Air Bridge
Channel Air Bridge was a private British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline specialising in cross- Channel vehicle-cum-passenger ferry services. Freddie Laker started Channel Air Bridge as a sister airline of Air ...
, his second airline venture, was flying cars and their owners in
Bristol Freighter
The Bristol Type 170 Freighter is a British twin-engine aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner. Its best known use was as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively sh ...
s from
Southend Airport (Rochford) to
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
.
In 1958, he sold
Air Charter
Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a airline ticket, ticket through a traditional airline).
Regulation
Charter – also called air taxi or ad h ...
,
Aviation Traders
Aviation Traders Limited (ATL) was a war-surplus aircraft and spares trader formed in 1947. In 1949, it began maintaining aircraft used by some of Britain's contemporary independent airlines on the Berlin Airlift. In the early 1950s, it branched ...
and Channel Air Bridge to
Airwork
Airwork is an aviation business based in Auckland, New Zealand. The Airwork Group is New Zealand's largest general aviation company. It focuses on fixed wing and helicopter maintenance, leasing, and operations working with private and public e ...
. All three companies joined the Airwork group in 1959. Following the Airwork–
Hunting-Clan merger in 1960, he became managing director of
British United Airways
British United Airways (BUA) was a private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British airline formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest wholly ...
.
[''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, p. 54]
He left
British United in 1965 and formed his own
Laker Airways
Laker Airways was a private British airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It was originally a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide. Its head office was located at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.
It became the seco ...
, in 1966, initially operating
charter flights
Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline).
Regulation
Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...
with a pair of
turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...
planes acquired second-hand from
British Overseas Airways Corporation
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...
(BOAC). The livery was a mixture of black and red with a bold ''LAKER'' logo on the tailplane. He offered a new, revolutionary concept of economic air travel requiring passengers to purchase their tickets on the day of travel as well as to buy their own food. These flights were operated by Laker Airways and marketed under the ''Skytrain'' trademark.
He was
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
ed in 1977, the year after the successful launch of ''Skytrain'', in recognition of his services to the airline industry.
[''Sir Freddie Laker''](_blank)
B. Ritchie, ''The Independent'', print edition, 11 February 2006
He received an honorary degree from the
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...
in 1981.
Laker divided his final years between his waterfront home in Princess Isle,
Grand Bahama
Grand Bahama is the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, with the town of West End located east of Palm Beach, Florida. It is the third largest island in the Bahamas island chain of approximately 700 islands and 2,400 cays. The island is ...
Island, where he kept his yacht, ''The Lady Jacqueline'', and
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. Laker died at the age of 83 in a suburban hospital in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
in Florida, following complications from cardiac surgery to implant a
pacemaker
An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...
. He was survived by his fourth wife, Jacqueline Harvey, a former
airline hostess
A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...
he married in 1985, and also by two of his children. His daughter, Elaine, was by his first wife Joan with whom he also had a son, Kevin, who died in 1965 at the age of 17 after crashing a sports car Freddie had given him for his birthday. His son
Freddie Allen Laker – also a successful entrepreneur – was born to his third wife, Patricia Gates, with whom he also had another son who died in infancy.
Business ventures
Throughout his working life Laker was involved in a number of aviation-related business ventures. Even when he was working for others, his decisions had far-reaching
strategic
Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...
consequences for the business that employed him.
Early business ventures
Laker's early post-war business ventures (prior to 1960) included:
Aviation Traders
Freddie Laker founded Aviation Traders in October 1947.
It was based at
Southend Airport
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
, Essex, England and specialised in converting numerous war-surplus bombers and transporters into freighters. This included the conversion of
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.
The Halifax has its or ...
bombers into freighters, six of which were sold to Bond Air Services, an early post-war British independent
[independent from ]government-owned corporation
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...
s airline. Bond Air Services based these planes at
Wunstorf
Wunstorf () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 22 km west of Hanover. The following localities belong to the town of Wunstorf: Blumenau (with Liethe), Bokeloh, Großenheidorn, Idensen ...
aerodrome in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
to carry essential supplies into
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
during the
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road ...
of 1948–49. Bond Air Services furthermore contracted Aviation Traders to service these planes. In return, Aviation Traders got half of Bond Air Services' freight charges.
Following the end of the
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road ...
in 1949, Laker had most of the Halifaxes he had supplied to various independent airlines during the Airlift scrapped at its
Southend
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
facilities. He also made use of these facilities for the subsequent conversion of several
DC-4
The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s ...
/
C-54
The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian a ...
Skymaster
airframe
The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system.
Airframe design is a field of aerospa ...
s into
Carvairs for various operators around the world.
In addition, Aviation Traders re-engined ''Argonauts'', BOAC's Canadian-built
Canadair North Star
The Canadair North Star is a 1940s Canadian development, for Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA), of the Douglas DC-4. Instead of radial piston engines used by the Douglas design, Canadair used Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 engines to achieve a higher cruisin ...
s, with unused
Rolls-Royce Merlin
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later ...
piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tig ...
engines, which it sourced from the 88 spare Merlins Freddie Laker had acquired earlier along with BOAC's entire fleet of
Haltons – former
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
Halifax bombers that had been converted to carry passengers and cargo – and several
Avro Tudor
The Avro Type 688 Tudor was a British piston-engined airliner based on Avro's four-engine Lincoln bomber, itself a descendant of the famous Lancaster heavy bomber, and was Britain's first pressurised airliner. Customers saw the aircraft as ...
s purchased from the
Government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
.
It also produced an all-new aircraft design, the
ATL-90 Accountant.
[Armstrong, P. (2005). ''The Flight of the Accountant: a Romance of Air and Credit'', ''Flight to insolvency''](_blank)
/ref>
In 1951, Aviation Traders (Engineering), a sister company of Aviation Traders, won a contract from Bristol Aircraft to manufacture wing centre sections for Bristol Freighters. Between the beginning of 1952 and the end of 1955, Aviation Traders (Engineering) built 50 wing sections for Bristol Aircraft.
In 1958, Laker announced his decision to sell both Aviation Traders and Air Charter to Airwork for £600,000 cash plus a further £200,000, subject to the valuation of stock. The deal became effective in January 1959, when Aviation Traders and Air Charter joined the Airwork group.
Air Charter
This was his first airline venture, which he took over in 1951.[''Airliner World – The Laker Airways Skytrain'', Key Publishing, Avenel, NJ, USA, July 2005, p. 72] Since its inception in 1947, Air Charter had been based at London's old Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport (former ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neoclassical style, and was developed as Britain's main air ...
.[''Airliner World – Britain's Carferry Airlines'', Key Publishing, Avenel, NJ, USA, July 2005, p. 34] The airline participated in the 1948–49 Berlin Airlift. (Following the end of the Airlift in 1949, Laker sold the Air Charter Yorks that were still airworthy to other independent airlines, two of which were acquired by Dan-Air
Dan-Air (Dan Air Services Limited) was an airline based in the United Kingdom and a wholly owned subsidiary of London shipbroker, shipbroking firm Davies and Newman. It was started in 1953 with a single aircraft. Initially, it operated cargo a ...
in 1956).[''Aviation News – UK and Irish airlines since 1945 (Part 34 an-Air Services', Vol. 64, No. 12, p.954, HPC Publishing, St. Leonards on Sea, December 2002])
On 14 April 1955, Air Charter inaugurated its first vehicle ferry service between Southend and Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
using a Bristol 170
The Bristol Type 170 Freighter is a British twin-engine aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner. Its best known use was as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively s ...
Mark 32 Super Freighter.
In 1958, Laker announced his decision to sell both Air Charter and Aviation Traders to Airwork for £600,000 cash plus a further £200,000, subject to the valuation of stock.
In January 1959, Air Charter became a subsidiary of the Airwork group.
Following a rationalisation of Air Charter's flight crew and ground staff in February 1959, Laker decided to transfer all vehicle ferry services along with the Bristol 170 fleet to the newly formed Channel Air Bridge.
Air Charter was absorbed into British United Airways
British United Airways (BUA) was a private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British airline formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest wholly ...
in June 1960, as a result of Airwork's merger with Hunting-Clan and several other contemporary, British independent operators.
Channel Air Bridge
His second airline venture began flying cars and their owners across the English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
in 1954, initially using a fleet of Bristol Freighter twin-engined, piston-powered planes. These were later supplemented and eventually superseded by the larger-capacity, four-engined Carvairs. The Carvair design was based on the Douglas DC-4
The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s ...
piston-engined airliner. It involved raising the aircraft's cockpit "above" the fuselage in a 747-style bulge so as to create more space for vehicles and/or passengers on the main deck. It also involved replacing the DC-4's original tail fin with a newly designed, larger DC-7
The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the ear ...
-style fin as well as equipping the aircraft with a Bristol Freighter-type nose-loading cargo door, more powerful brakes and a stronger undercarriage.
At the end of 1958, he sold Channel Air Bridge together with his other two companies – Air Charter and Aviation Traders – to Airwork. All three officially became part of the Airwork group in January 1959. In June 1960 Airwork and Hunting-Clan merged to form British United Airways. Channel Air Bridge continued operating under its own identity for more than two years.
On 1 January 1963, Channel Air Bridge merged with Silver City Airways
Silver City Airways was an airline, based in the United Kingdom, that operated mainly in Europe, between 1946 and 1962. Unlike many airlines at the time, it was independent of government-owned corporations; its parent company was Zinc Corpo ...
, which had pioneered commercial cross-Channel vehicle ferry flights in 1948.[''Airliner World – Britain's Carferry Airlines'', Key Publishing, Avenel, NJ, USA, July 2005, pp. 33/4] The merged entity traded as British United Air Ferries
British United Air Ferries (BUAF) was a wholly private, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations car and passenger ferry airline based in the United Kingdom during the 1960s. It specialised in cross- Channel ferry flig ...
.
In the meantime, Laker had been appointed British United's managing director.
During his tenure (1960–65), British United became Britain's biggest wholly privately owned
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...
, independent airline. It also became the UK's first independent airline to re-equip its entire fleet with new jet aircraft
A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines.
Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, je ...
.
In 1961, British United became the launch customer for the BAC One-Eleven
The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111/BAC 1-11) was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).
Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-se ...
short haul jetliner
A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft). Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly clas ...
when it placed an order for ten series 200 aircraft. Laker had personally negotiated this deal with the manufacturer. This was the first time that an independent airline had placed an order for brand-new jets. The first of the new One-Elevens entered service on 9 April 1965, on the airline's scheduled London Gatwick
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after Hea ...
—Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
route. Laker also placed an order for Vickers VC10
The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance route ...
series 1103 long-haul jets on behalf of British United. The first two aircraft were delivered towards the end of 1964. (These aircraft differed from other operators' VC10s by having a large cargo door on the left-hand side of the forward fuselage where the aircraft's first class section was located. They also had extended wingtips that were slightly bent downwards to reduce the aircraft's cruise drag as well as to help it overcome the instability encountered when entering a stall.)
By the end of that decade, British United had an all-jet fleet, which gave it a competitive edge over its contemporary independent rivals.
Laker was furthermore instrumental in securing the transfer of the traffic rights for BOAC's loss-making South American routes to Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
to British United. The airline commenced service on these routes in November 1964 using its brand-new VC10s and managed to make them profitable within five years.
In 1965, Laker decided to leave British United to set up his own airline following an alleged disagreement with British United's chairman Myles Wyatt.
Subsequent business ventures
Laker was involved in the following business ventures during the later postwar years of the 20th century (post-1960):
Laker Airways
Laker Airways
Laker Airways was a private British airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It was originally a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide. Its head office was located at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.
It became the seco ...
was formed in 1966. This was Laker's third and most prominent airline venture. Laker Airways commenced commercial airline operations that July with a fleet of two ex-BOAC Bristol Britannia
The Bristol Type 175 Britannia is a retired British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the Commonwealth. During development two prototypes were lost and the turboprop engines proved sus ...
s. These were subsequently supplemented and eventually replaced with a brand-new fleet of BAC One-Eleven jetliners as well as a pair of second-hand Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...
jets.
Initially, Laker Airways was a charter airline
Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a airline ticket, ticket through a traditional airline).
Regulation
Charter – also called air taxi or ad h ...
and wholesale tour operator. British (as well as other European) airline regulations at the time required that charter-based low-price air travel be sold to the public only as a component of an air-hotel package. Other big British charter airlines were also owned by tour operators, mainly selling low-priced packages to Mediterranean beach destinations. For many years Laker had been the most profitable as well as the best-run charter airline in Britain.
Laker Airways
Laker Airways was a private British airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It was originally a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide. Its head office was located at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.
It became the seco ...
pioneered many new, cost-saving as well as profit-enhancing, commercial concepts and operational techniques.
In 1969, Laker Airways announced its intention to buy the proposed BAC Three-Eleven
The BAC Two-Eleven and BAC Three-Eleven were pair of proposals for British airliners that were produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) during the late 1960s. The projects had emerged from design studies which had been aimed at co ...
, an all-British widebodied jet powered by two rear-mounted Rolls-Royce RB211
The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a British family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by Rolls-Royce. The engines are capable of generating of thrust. The RB211 engine was the first production three-spool engine, and turned Rolls-Royce from a signif ...
engines. The airline's letter of intent
A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a contract, legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a Heads of agreement ( ...
was for four aircraft to be delivered in 1974. It was anticipated that these 250-seaters would replace the entire narrow-bodied fleet, which was envisaged to comprise two 158-seat Boeing 707s and four 84-seat BAC One-Elevens by that time. Following the project's cancellation in 1971 due to a lack of Government funding, Laker remarked that this would force him to spend the £3 billion he had planned to invest by 1986 in a fleet of British-built widebodied airliners (including options) on competing foreign models.
Laker Airways
Laker Airways was a private British airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It was originally a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide. Its head office was located at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.
It became the seco ...
eventually became the first independent British airline to actually operate widebodied equipment when it introduced its first two McDonnell Douglas DC-10
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas.
The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...
-10 series aircraft into commercial airline service in November 1972, the first European operator to do so. These aircraft were the first UK-registered DC-10
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas.
The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...
s.
In 1973, Laker Airways
Laker Airways was a private British airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It was originally a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide. Its head office was located at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.
It became the seco ...
operated the world's first Advance Booking Charter
Advance Booking Charter flights were first introduced in the early 1970s to meet the largely unsatisfied demand for affordable long-haul flights to popular destinations, especially on both sides of the North Atlantic ocean.
The world's first ABC f ...
(ABC) flight. By the mid-1970s it had become the undisputed, global ABC flight market leader.
Laker Airways
Laker Airways was a private British airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It was originally a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide. Its head office was located at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.
It became the seco ...
scored another industry first when it introduced its first daily ''Skytrain'' low-fare scheduled service between London Gatwick and New York John F. Kennedy Airport on 26 September 1977.[''First Skytrain leaves on Monday''](_blank)
''Flight International'', 24 September 1977, p. 875
''Skytrain''
On 15 June 1971, Laker Airways
Laker Airways was a private British airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It was originally a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide. Its head office was located at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.
It became the seco ...
submitted an application to the UK's Air Transport Licensing Board (ATLB), one of the forerunners of today's Civil Aviation Authority
A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register.
Role
Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...
(CAA), to launch the world's first daily transatlantic, low-fare scheduled service between London and New York City, charging an incredibly low one-way fare of £32.50 in winter and £37.50 in summer.[''Laker's low-fare challenge''](_blank)
Air Transport ..., ''Flight International'', 8 July 1971, p. 42
Air Transport ..., ''Flight International'', 28 October 1971, p. 674
''Flight International'', 5 October 1972, p. 447
''Flight International'', 19 April 1973, p. 608 This was one third of what the major, established "flag carrier
A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations.
Hist ...
s" were charging at the time. The proposed service was to be marketed using the ''Skytrain'' trademark and was to be initially operated with 158-seat, single-class Boeing 707-138Bs that were acquired second-hand. ''Skytrain'' was to be a "walk-on", "walk-off" operation that did not require any advance reservations. Instead, seats were to be sold to the travelling public at each end of the route on a "first come, first served" basis only.
The ATLB rejected Laker's application before the year was out, and Laker appealed against the ruling. The appeal was successful, and the ATLB eventually granted Laker the requested licence in February 1972.
However, on 30 March 1972, the UK government revoked Laker's licence and instructed him to reapply to the CAA, which came into being on 1 April 1972.
Laker duly reapplied to the CAA for permission to operate eleven weekly ''Skytrain'' services each way between London Gatwick and New York's John F. Kennedy Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the New ...
(JFK) during the summer and seven weekly round-trips during the winter.[''Airliner World – The Laker Airways Skytrain'', Key Publishing, Avenel, NJ, USA, July 2005, p. 73] The summer schedule was to be operated with Laker's brand-new DC-10 widebodied jet aircraft to take advantage of increased demand he anticipated for his new low-fare service during the peak months from June to September as well as of the DC-10's low break-even
Break-even (or break even), often abbreviated as B/E in finance, (sometimes called point of equilibrium) is the point of balance making neither a profit nor a loss. Any number below the break-even point constitutes a loss while any number above i ...
load factor of only 52%. The winter schedule was to be operated with 707 narrowbodies as specified in Laker's original application to the ATLB.
The newly formed CAA approved Laker's application on 5 October 1972, granting a ten-year licence. However, it specified Stansted
London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London.
London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...
rather than Gatwick
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...
as the service's UK departure/arrival point and limited the number of seats that could be sold in winter to 189 per trip, the maximum number of passengers a Boeing 707 could accommodate in a high-density, all-economy
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
configuration. The unexpected change of the UK departure/arrival point for Laker's ''Skytrain'' service as well as its capacity limit during the lean winter season were intended not to undermine the planned launch of a daily British Caledonian
British Caledonian (BCal) was a British private independent airline which operated out of Gatwick Airport in south-east England during the 1970s and 1980s. It was created as an alternative to the British government-controlled corporation airlin ...
(BCal) Gatwick—JFK full-service scheduled operation, for which the ATLB had already granted that airline a 15-year licence, along with another 15-year licence for a daily Gatwick—Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...
full-service scheduled operation, during the so-called "cannon ball" hearings earlier the same year.
The UK government designated Laker Airways as a scheduled transatlantic UK "flag" carrier on 11 January 1973.
However, under intense pressure from the established airlines, including Laker's archrival and next-door Gatwick neighbour BCal, against a backdrop of huge losses and overcapacity on the North Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...
in the aftermath of the global energy crisis caused by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquart ...
' oil embargo, the UK's Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
government of that era decided to revoke Laker's licence on 29 July 1975.
Freddie Laker took the government to the UK High Court, which overturned the latter's decision to revoke the airline's licence for a ''Skytrain'' service between London and New York.
It took another two years until Laker gained final approval, including a reciprocal permit from the relevant US authorities, which was granted for a one-year experimental period on 13 June 1977 by US President Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
– to commence ''Skytrain''.
In the meantime, Peter Shore
Peter David Shore, Baron Shore of Stepney, (20 May 1924 – 24 September 2001) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and former UK Cabinet, Cabinet Minister, noted in part for his opposition to the United Kingdom's entry int ...
, the then Secretary of State for Trade
The secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The incumbent is a memb ...
, had conducted a review of the government's aviation policy and in 1976 announced a new "spheres of influence" policy that ended dual designation for British airlines on all long-haul routes. As a result of this new aviation policy, BA and BCal were no longer permitted to run competing scheduled services on the same long-haul routes and the latter was forced to withdraw from the London—New York and London—Los Angeles routes, resulting in the suspension of BCal's Gatwick—JFK and Gatwick—Los Angeles licences. The same year, Edmund Dell
Edmund Emanuel Dell (15 August 1921 – 1 November 1999) was a British politician and businessman.
Early life
Dell was born in London, the son of a Jewish manufacturer. In the Second World War he served in the Royal Artillery, reaching the r ...
, Peter Shore's successor, renounced the original Bermuda
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = National song
, song = " Hail to Bermuda"
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, mapsize2 =
, map_caption2 =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name =
, e ...
air services agreement of 1946 and initiated bilateral
Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular:
* Bilateria, bilateral animals
*Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states
*Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of ...
negotiations with his US counterparts on a new air services agreement, which resulted in the Bermuda II
Bermuda II was a bilateral air transport agreement between the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States signed on 23 July 1977 as a renegotiation of the original 1946 Bermuda air services agreement. A new open skies agreement was ...
treaty of 1977.[''Bermuda 2 initialled''](_blank)
''Flight International'', 2 July 1977, p. 5
''Flight International'', 23 July 1977, p. 254
Laker's long-running ''Skytrain'' application was finally granted in 1977 upon designating the airline as the second UK flag carrier between London and New York under the then just-concluded Bermuda II UK-US air agreement. At the last minute prior to the inaugural ''Skytrain'' flight from London to New York, Laker also received government permission to use its Gatwick base as the service's UK departure and arrival point, rather than Stansted as originally specified in its licence. The restriction limiting it to 189 seats per aircraft in winter was lifted as well and the baggage allowance was brought into line with International Air Transport Association
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
(IATA) rules.[''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, p. 225]
''Skytrain'' took to the air for the first time on 26 September 1977 when the inaugural flight departed London Gatwick for New York JFK. This flight carried 272 passengers on one of the airline's 345-seat McDonnell Douglas DC-10 widebodied aircraft. The fares charged at the time were £59 () one-way from London and $135 () one-way from New York.
''Skytrain'' was originally envisaged to achieve a 50% load factor in winter. By summer 1978, the actual load factor was 80%.
After unsuccessfully trying to block Laker through government regulation, the incumbent giant lines, British Airways, Pan Am
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...
and TWA
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...
, immediately matched Laker's standby fares and rules for at least a portion of their economy-class seats. Pan Am also introduced a new low-fare alternative, "budget," where a traveler could confirm a seat at the time of purchase, but only for travel within a three-day travel "window," with a specific flight and date confirmed by the airline a week before departure.
Laker claimed that ''Skytrain'' helped to grow passenger numbers for all airlines in the London—New York market, citing statistics comparing passenger numbers for the July—September peak season in 1977 with those of the corresponding period in 1976 as evidence. These had shown that in the days before ''Skytrain'', total traffic between London and New York for the aforesaid period in 1977 was down 2% on the same period in 1976. He contrasted these figures with those comparing the October—December 1977 off-peak period with the corresponding 1976 off-peak period. The latter set of figures had shown a 30% increase, boosted by "Skytrain", which launched on 26 September 1977.
A closer analysis comparing the figures for October 1977 compared with those of the same month in 1976 had shown an increase of 31.8% (37,902 passengers) for all airlines. A further breakdown of these figures had shown that Laker's "Skytrain" accounted for 15% (17,501 passengers) of the overall increase while competing services of rival airlines accounted for the remaining 16.8% (20,401 passengers). The latter included IATA members British Airways, Pan Am, and TWA, which had initially opposed "Skytrain" but subsequently matched its low fares.[in addition to BCal] (Statistics for November and December 1977, as well as for January—June 1978, had also shown that the overall monthly growth in the London—New York market was maintained at that level for the remainder of this period while ''Skytrain'' managed to grow its share of the overall monthly increase to 50% and keep up this performance until the end of the period.)
''Skytrain'' became a financial success in its first year of operation, leading to further expansion over the coming years, in terms of new routes as well as additional frequencies.
As a result of his clever publicity stunts to market the then brand-new London—New York ''Skytrain'' service, Freddie Laker himself became popular with the public ("the forgotten man's hero") and was regarded as one of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
's "golden boys" of industry (along with Sir Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronic ...
and Sir Alan Sugar
Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar (born 24 March 1947) is a British business magnate, media personality, author, politician and political adviser. In 1968, he started what would later become his largest business venture, consumer electronics com ...
). The future Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
was a self-confessed "Freddie Laker fan".
However, it was James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...
's "pro-union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
" Labour Government that awarded Laker his knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
for services to the airline industry in 1978, rather than Margaret Thatcher's subsequent "pro-business" Conservative administration (although the latter had recommended him for his service to private enterprise in her capacity as the then leader of the opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
[''Sir Freddie plans a comeback''](_blank)
''Flight International'', 5 January 1985, p. 4).
As ''Skytrain'' expanded to other British and U.S. gateways, the airline placed orders for additional McDonnell Douglas DC-10 widebodies, including the company's first order for five longer-range series-30 aircraft required for its Los Angeles flights. These were delivered from December 1979 onwards to support its growing number of destinations and frequencies.
The airline also became one of the early buyers of the first Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
airliner, the A300, ordering ten of these widebodies in 1979 and had plans to deploy the aircraft on a new network of intra-European ''Skytrain'' routes in a big way.
''Skytrain'' came to an end the day the airline went into receivership at the behest of the Midland Bank on 5 February 1982.
Collapse and the end of ''Skytrain''
In 1982, the company went bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...
, owing over £250 million (equivalent to £ million in ). The airline made its last flight on 5 February 1982, the day it went into receivership.
There were numerous reasons for what was termed the biggest corporate failure in Britain at the time:
* Laker Airways had expanded too quickly in the late 1970s and early 1980s when it took delivery of a large fleet of brand-new DC-10 and A300 widebodies, which had been bought with US funds borrowed at too high a rate of interest. Subsequent devaluations of sterling meant increased costs in servicing the debt.
* The company was undercapitalised and did not enjoy the financial backup of any significant assets, which seriously undermined its ability to withstand a concerted and prolonged campaign to put it out of business at the depth of the 1981–82 recession at the hands of its financially stronger competitors.
* Laker Airways incurred a revenue loss estimated at £13 million
One million (1,000,000), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian ''millione'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the au ...
when the worldwide DC-10 fleet was grounded as a result of having its certificate of airworthiness
A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-spraye ...
temporarily withdrawn in the aftermath of the American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
DC-10 crash
Crash or CRASH may refer to:
Common meanings
* Collision, an impact between two or more objects
* Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond
* Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating
* Couch su ...
at Chicago O'Hare
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Loop busine ...
in May 1979.
* Some passengers may also have perceived the DC-10 as unsafe as a result of a string of fatal accidents involving the aircraft within a short timespan during the late 1970s (including the aforementioned 1979 American Airlines crash at Chicago O'Hare, and the previous 1974 crash of a Turkish Airlines DC10 at Beauvais
Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris.
The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous ...
, near Paris).
* The implications of the strategic decision to build its business on discount travellers only.
* The conspiracy of large airlines throughout Europe and North America, which were aggressively price-matching Laker Airways even at the expense of massive losses. This charge, which was brought to court as the largest aviation antitrust case in history, was later settled out of court. Sir Freddie sued IATA member airlines British Airways, BCal, Pan Am, TWA, Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
, Air France
Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...
, Swissair
Swissair AG/ S.A. (German: Schweizerische Luftverkehr-AG; French: S.A. Suisse pour la Navigation Aérienne) was the national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and bankruptcy in 2002.
It was formed from a merger between Bal ...
, KLM
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...
, SAS, Sabena
The ''Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne'' (French; ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its ba ...
, Alitalia
Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana Società per azioni, S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of ...
and UTA for conspiracy to put his airline out of business by predatory pricing
Predatory pricing is a Pricing strategies, pricing strategy, using the method of undercutting on a larger scale, where a Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union#Dominance, dominant firm in an industry will deliberately ...
. They settled out of court for US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
50 million, with British Airways later agreeing to contribute a further $35 million. British Airways also reached a separate out-of-court agreement with Sir Freddie personally for £8 million.
* Aggressive, non-profitable price dropping in Australia by Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
, which later went on to enjoy a monopoly and pushed east/west airline prices through the roof.
* Fallout from the company's demise descended into litigation, which delayed the privatisation of British Airways.
Laker Airways Mark II
Laker was undaunted and almost immediately attempted to relaunch the airline with assistance from one of Britain's titans of industry, 'Tiny' Rowland, the Managing Director of Lonrho, plc – one of the nation's largest conglomerates – and on the back of a strong public following (a relief fund gathered over £1 million, including a benefit concert in San Francisco by the music band The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...
, who had used the airline to tour America in their formative years).
However despite Rowland’s offer of funding being described as “adequate” by Laker, the attempt was unsuccessful due to their failure to secure the necessary licensing.
Laker, by now living in the Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
, got off the ground again in the early 1990s, moving his refounded business's base to Freeport.[''Laker resurfaces with new Bahamas airline''](_blank)
''Flight International'', 8–14 April 1992, p. 8 Laker Airways
Laker Airways was a private British airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It was originally a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide. Its head office was located at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.
It became the seco ...
flew from there until it shut down in 2005. It was Laker's final airline venture.
Legacy
Laker was the 2002 recipient of the Tony Jannus Award
The Tony Jannus Award recognizes outstanding individual achievement in scheduled commercial aviation by airline executives, inventors and manufacturers, and government leaders. The award is conferred annually by the Tony Jannus Distinguished Avia ...
for his distinguished contributions to commercial air transportation. He is remembered for his famous advice to fellow airline entrepreneurs Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
, of Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and w ...
, and Stelios Haji-Ioannou
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou ( el, Στέλιος Χατζηιωάννου, translit=Stelios Hatziioannou; born 14 February 1967) is a Greek Cypriot entrepreneur. Born into a wealthy ship-owning family, he is best known for founding the low-cost ai ...
, of easyJet
EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...
, to "sue the bastards", a reference to the bullying tactics of British Airways
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...
in trying to force upstarts out of business.
Virgin Atlantic had earlier named one of its Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
s ''The Spirit of Sir Freddie''. In addition, Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
's low-cost, long-haul carrier AirAsia X
AirAsia X (previously known as ''FlyAsianXpress Sdn. Bhd.''), is a long-haul budget airline based in Malaysia, and a sister company of AirAsia. It commenced operations on 2 November 2007 with its first service flown from Kuala Lumpur Internatio ...
named its first Airbus A330
The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus.
Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...
''Semangat Sir Freddie'' in homage to the pioneer of " no-frills" air travel. The third plane to be named in spirit after Freddie Laker happens to be a Boeing 737 MAX
The Boeing 737 MAX is the fourth generation of the Boeing 737, a narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), a division of American company Boeing. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG ...
that belongs to Norwegian Air Shuttle
Norwegian Air Shuttle Aksjeselskap, ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norway, Norwegian Low-cost carrier, low-cost airline and Norway's largest airline. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe behind Wizz Air, easyJet and Ryanair, the ...
, delivered in May 2017.
His name has also recently been applied to a Norwegian Air Sweden Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, with the registration SE-RXZ.
He was also the subject of a musical, ''Laker!'', as performed at Not in Front of the Audience in 1982, and written by Mel Smith
Melvyn Kenneth Smith (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and director. Smith worked on the sketch comedy shows ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and ''Alas Smith and Jones'' with his comedy partner, Griff Rhys Jones. S ...
and Peter Brewis
Peter Brewis is a composer and instrumentalist who has been active in several spheres of music from ballet and modern dance to music theatre and rock music. Although he was classically trained, studying under the famous French music educator Na ...
in reaction to Laker Airways' bankruptcy.
In 1988, InsideFlyer
''InsideFlyer'' is a website specializing in frequent-flyer news.
InsideFlyer began as a monthly print publication founded in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County ...
magazine’s editor and publisher Randy Petersen created the Freddie Awards to honor Freddie Laker's accomplishments in marketing travel. The awards recognize excellence in frequent traveler awards programs. The Freddie Awards were touted as the frequent traveller's answer to the Oscar, Emmy and Grammy Awards by Petersen. The individual categories for the Freddie Awards are Best Award, Best Bonus, Best Affinity Credit Card, Best Newsletter/Member Communications, Best Web Site, Best Customer Service, Best Award Redemption, Best Elite Level and Program of the Year.
When the new passenger terminal at London Southend Airport
London Southend Airport is an international airport situated on the outskirts of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, approximately from the centre of London. The airport straddles the boundaries between the city of Southend-on-Sea and the Ro ...
was opened in 2012, the upstairs bar was named ''Laker's Bar'', and featured a montage of Laker and his airline across the walls. In 2015, the bar was moved into the departure lounge and renamed ''Laker's Bar & Restaurant'', and still displays historic images in various frames on the wall.
In June 2017, Norwegian Air International
Norwegian Air International was an Irish airline and fully integrated subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, using its corporate identity. It operated flights to destinations in Europe and the Middle East from various European bases, and was headq ...
placed Laker's image on the tail of their first 737-8 MAX (EI-FYA). Laker is one of the company's five "British tail fin heroes", joining Queen frontman Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...
, children's author Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...
, pioneering pilot Amy Johnson
Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia.
Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records duri ...
and England's World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...
.
Notes and citations
;Notes
;Citations
References
*
*
*
* (''Airliner World'' online)
* (''Airliner World'' online)
* (''Aviation News'' online)
External links
Reuters
News announcing his death
Obituary
from BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
Obituary
from ''Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...
''
Obituary
from ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
''
Obituary
from ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''
Final Interview
Armstrong, P. (2005). ''The Flight of the Accountant: a Romance of Air and Credit'', ''Flight to insolvency''
* ttp://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1972/1972%20-%201899.html ''Skytrain: new Laker bid'' ''Flight International'', 27 July 1972, p. 116
''Skytrain ...''
'Flight International'', 27 July 1972, p. 117
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laker, Freddie
1922 births
2006 deaths
People from Canterbury
Businesspeople awarded knighthoods
Knights Bachelor
People educated at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys
Air Transport Auxiliary pilots
British airline chief executives
20th-century English businesspeople
British expatriates in the Bahamas
British expatriates in the United States