Sir Freddie Laker
Without the intervention of the great man Sir Freddie Laker who knows how many of us who own homes in Florida could even afford to fly out there regularly. Sir Freddie made his fortune after WW2 supplying cargo planes for use in the Berlin airlift. He was knighted in 1978 and became the champion of the less affluent air passenger.
The grandfather of low cost airlines started his trans Atlantic operation Skytrain in 1977 stating customers could turn up and buy a ticket just like getting on a bus. The fare from London to New York then was £118, almost 3 times cheaper than the competition ! He also launched services in Europe and in 1979 was one of the first Airlines to order the Airbus A300 (10)
Unfortunately the wheels came off dramatically on February 6th 1982 due to unfair competition. Laker Airways went bust with debts of £250 million. Such was the great mans popularity that a fighting fund was set up by the general public and over £1 million raised to try and save his operation. In the final year before the collapse healthy profits were expected and loans had been deffered but fluctuations in the £-$ exchange rate were the final straw.
In 1985 Sir Freddie bought a lawsuit against 12 airlines for conspiring to put him out of business and won a $50 million out of court settlement, in August of the same year he accepted an £8 million settlement from British Airways.
Laker Airways did continue, albeit in a smaller guise operating from Freeport and flying around the Caribbean until 2005, Sir Freddie also ventured into the Internet and ran a small provider in South Florida Laker Information Services.
Sir Freddie leaves a legacy behind in the way of low cost, no frills airlines like Easyjet and Ryanair, a true champion of the people he will be sadly missed.
Posted on 10 February 2006
