Sigurður Helgason (July 20, 1921 – February 8, 2009) was an innovator in

low-cost airlines A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

. Helgason is credited with pioneering the "hippie airline",

Loftleiðir Loftleiðir HF, internationally known as Icelandic Airlines (abbreviated IAL) or Loftleiðir Icelandic, was a private Icelandic airline headquartered on the grounds of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík, which operated mostly trans-atlantic fligh ...

, that made low-cost air travel to Europe possible for generations of Americans.

Biography

Born July 20, 1921, in the Icelandic capital,

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

, Sigurður Helgason came to the United States in his 20s and graduated with a business degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York in 1947. He then returned to Iceland, where he managed a cement company. In 1953, Helgason joined the board of

, a small airline that had been formed by three pilots nine years earlier. At the time, the

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) controlled its members' fares. As a non-member, Loftleiðir, or Icelandic Airlines in English, was able to significantly undercut other transatlantic carriers' pricing, and it began service from New York to Luxembourg in 1955. According to Guðjón Arngrímsson, Icelandair's former Vice President for Corporate Communication, Helgason was a "very key player" in the strategy. Helgason managed the American operations of the company from 1961 to 1973. At that point, Loftleiðir was merged with Flugfélag Íslands to form

Icelandair Icelandair is the flag carrier airline of Iceland, with its corporate head office on the property of Reykjavík Airport in the capital city Reykjavik. Linked from here It is part of the Icelandair Group and operates to destinations on both si ...

and he returned to Reykjavik to become its CEO. He stepped down as chief executive in 1984, assuming the position of chairman until retirement in 1991. He then lived in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

Mustique Mustique is a small private island in the nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which is part of the Grenadines, a chain of islands in the West Indies. The island is located within Grenadines Parish, and the closest island is the uninhabit ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Helgason's main interests after retirement were

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...

and the

International House of New York International House New York, also known as I-House, is a private, independent, non-profit residence and program center for postgraduate students, research scholars, trainees, and interns, located at 500 Riverside Drive in Morningside Heights, Ma ...

. He leased many rivers across Iceland, including the Hofsa. As a member of the

, he served on the board of directors, where he won the Harry Edmonds Award. Helgason died aged 87 on the island of

the Grenadines The Grenadines is a chain of small islands that lie on a line between the larger islands of Saint Vincent and Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. Nine are inhabited and open to the public (or ten, if the offshore island of Young Island is counted): ...

, where he spent winters. Helgason was the first and only non-native to be buried on the island.

References

1921 births 2009 deaths Columbia Business School alumni 20th-century Icelandic businesspeople Deaths in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Chief executives in the airline industry Icelandic expatriates in the United States {{Iceland-business-bio-stub