"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"
"Laker Airways Laker Airways was a wholly private, British independent 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 London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England. It became the second long-haul, low-cost, ""no frills"" airline in 1977, operating low-fare scheduled services between London Gatwick Airport and New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport (after pioneering Icelandic low-cost carrier Loftleiðir). The company did not survive the recession of the early 1980s and operated its last flight on 5 February 1982, the day it went bankrupt. Freddie"
"with getting there cheaply than comfortably or even exactly on time. Loftleiðir were not famous for speed or punctuality, but flying with the company became a sort of rite of passage for those young ""hippies"", one of whom was Bill Clinton, later US President. The first airline offering no-frills transatlantic service was Freddie Laker's Laker Airways, which operated its famous ""Skytrain"" service between London and New York City during the late 1970s. The service was suspended after Laker's competitors, British Airways and Pan Am, were able to price Skytrain out of the market. In the United States, airline carriers such"
"Joe Strummer introduces a song titled ""I'm So Bored with the USA"" in a live concert venue with the words ""This song is made possible by Freddie Laker."" Freddie Laker Sir Frederick Alfred Laker (6 August 1922 – 9 February 2006) was an English airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which went bankrupt in 1982. Known as Freddie Laker, he was one of the first airline owners to adopt the ""no-frills"" airline business model that has since proven to be very successful worldwide with companies such as Southwest Airlines, Norwegian Air, Ryanair, easyJet, AirAsia and WestJet."
"Freddie Laker Sir Frederick Alfred Laker (6 August 1922 – 9 February 2006) was an English airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which went bankrupt in 1982. Known as Freddie Laker, he was one of the first airline owners to adopt the ""no-frills"" airline business model that has since proven to be very successful worldwide with companies such as Southwest Airlines, Norwegian Air, Ryanair, easyJet, AirAsia and WestJet. Laker came from Canterbury in Kent, and attended the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, from which he was expelled, before starting work in aviation with Short Brothers"
"commitments.) The new ABC rules enabled Sir Freddie to build a successful ABC flights business across the North Atlantic over the next couple of years, making Laker Airways the market leader in transatlantic ABC flights. During the early to mid-1970s, the airline ran low-key advertising on hoardings and public transport in London, Manchester and other large British cities under the motto ""Take a Laker"". Laker's transatlantic charters provided meals, movies – new in those days that helped distinguish it from the competition – and a free bar. The success of Laker Airways's transatlantic ABC flights resulted in an application to"
"1973, Rodolfo Ramos created Aerocharter de México, S.A. de C.V. and started air charter operations at the Mexico City International Airport. He also provided ground services to major international charter and cargo companies such as Martinair and Southern Air. In 1987, Rodolfo Ramos met with Freddie Laker, who had pioneered low-fare commercial transatlantic routes and was the founder of Laker Airways, to develop international commercial/charter flights through Mexico. Following Dennis Conner America’s Cup victory in Australia, Freddie Laker became interested in developing transpacific flights to Southern California. With Mexico’s unused routes and slots (landing rights) at major airports both in"
"concept was targeting people clamouring for discounted air fares across the Atlantic. This was a market the established transatlantic scheduled carriers had ignored, mainly because it was not profitable given their high cost structures and complex organisations. Although Laker Airways had lower costs and a simpler organisation, it needed high year-round loads to make money at discount prices. Most of the passengers were likely to travel during the summer peak period. This made it challenging to achieve high loads during the winter. The beginning of the end came when Pan Am, a transatlantic competitor, decided in October 1981 to drop"
"a Boeing 737 MAX that belongs to Norwegian Air Shuttle, delivered in May of 2017. 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 and Peter Brewis in reaction to Laker Airways' bankruptcy. In 1988, InsideFlyer 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 traveler's answer to the Oscar, Emmy and Grammy Awards by Petersen. The individual"
"long-haul flights, an increasing number of which were affinity group charters to North America, primarily the US. During summer 1970, Laker sought the UK and Australian authorities' permission to operate a series of affinity group charter flights to Australia. Following his request's refusal, he flew to Australia in early 1971 to discuss his proposal for 15-day inclusive tours from Australia to the UK, including full board at first class hotels for A$935, with the director-general of the Australian Department of Civil Aviation who doubled as Qantas's chairman. Sir Freddie's visit did not succeed in convincing the Australian authorities of his"
"Cathay Pacific was among airlines attacking Laker's plans. The established transpacific airlines were concerned that Laker was likely to create excess capacity, threatening the profitability as well as long-term viability of these routes. Sir Freddie said Cathay seemed concerned about sharing the Hong Kong – Tokyo route with a competitor because this route was the main source of profits for Cathay Pacific's Asian and transpacifc operation. Laker abandoned ""Globetrain"" due to its inability to obtain regulatory approvals. In September 1978, Laker Airways became the UK launch customer for the twin-engined Airbus A300, short- and medium-haul widebodied jet. The airline ordered"
"airlines would do business with those companies. McDonnell Douglas and GE did not go ahead. Laker Airways collapsed during the early morning of 5 February 1982 with debts of £270 million, the biggest corporate failure in Britain. Sir Freddie sued IATA member airlines British Airways (BA), BCal, Pan Am, TWA, Lufthansa, Air France, Swissair, KLM, SAS, Sabena, Alitalia and UTA for conspiracy to put his airline out of business by predatory pricing. They settled out of court for US$50 million. British Airways reached a separate out-of-court agreement with Sir Freddie personally for £8 million. In July 1985, BA agreed to"
"main base in Freeport, Bahamas (FPO) and the following U.S. destinations: Laker Airways (Bahamas) Laker Airways (Bahamas) was an airline founded in 1992, which operated until 2005. Laker Airways (Bahamas) was a US-registered airline based in the Bahamas to which Sir Freddie Laker lent his name and operational expertise. The airline was established in 1992 with financial assistance from Oscar Wyatt, a Texas oilman and business partner of Sir Freddie Laker. The initial fleet comprised two Boeing 727-200 Advanced narrowbodied jet aircraft. Laker Airways (Bahamas) stopped operating in 2005 when the firm was wound up. In 1996 Sir Freddie Laker"
"all attempts to enter the longrange market with a low cost model have ended within a couple of years in either withdrawal or bankruptcy. Sir Freddie Laker became an inspiration and cautionary tale for Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Atlantic Airways, when they set about deciding their long-term strategy. 0n 17 August 1969, a BAC One-Eleven 320L (registration: G-AVBX) operating a charter flight from Klagenfurt, Austria, to Berlin Tegel, Germany, under contract to West Berlin package holiday company Flug-Union Berlin. The aircraft made an emergency landing at Hanover Airport because of an electrical fire in an aerial tuning unit in"
"its lowest economy fares where it was in competition with ""Skytrain"" by up to 66%. Laker retaliated by introducing a cut-price premium cabin branded ""Regency Class"". Following the end of the 1981/2 winter peak, there was insufficient traffic to support four airlines competing across the North Atlantic between January and March. At this point, state-owned British Airways and TWA, Laker's other transatlantic competitors, dropped their fares by a similar amount. As a result, Laker's loads and cash inflow halved between October 1981 and February 1982. It has also been suggested that Laker experienced a downturn after passengers began avoiding the"
"by Frontier Airlines (1950-1986) via a subcontract arrangement. United mainline Boeing 737-200 jetliners took over from November 1977 until 1982, flying San Francisco - Reno - Elko - Ely - Salt Lake City round trip service. Ely is the smallest destination, population-wise, ever to be served year round by United mainline jets. On November 12, 2006 Air Midwest operating Beechcraft 1900D commuter turboprops as US Airways Express initiated flights to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada via Cedar City Regional Airport in Cedar City, Utah; the stop in Cedar City was due to the fact that McCarran Airport requires"
"June 1971. Sir Freddie claimed that there was a vast, untapped demand for this kind of service and maintained that it would grow the total number of passengers flying between Britain and the United States each year from 14m to 16m, rather than diverting other airlines' existing passengers. Since approval for ""Skytrain"" was not forthcoming for several years, Laker Airways needed alternative work to keep its long-haul planes busy. Initially, both Boeing 707s supplemented the BAC One-Elevens on Mediterranean and Canary Islands routes, such as Gatwick – Palma de Mallorca and Gatwick–Tenerife. Both aircraft replaced Bristol Britannias on the airline's"
"contributions to commercial air transportation. He is remembered for his famous advice to fellow airline entrepreneurs Richard Branson, of Virgin Atlantic, and Stelios Haji-Ioannou, of easyJet, to ""sue the bastards"", a reference to the bullying tactics of British Airways in trying to force upstarts out of business. Virgin Atlantic later named one of its Boeing 747s ""The Spirit of Sir Freddie"". In addition, Malaysia's low-cost, long-haul carrier AirAsia X named its first Airbus A330 ""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 sister airline to Laker Airways (Bahamas) to follow in the original, UK-based Laker Airways's footsteps. Laker Airways Mark II leased two McDonnell Douglas DC-10 widebodied jets to operate low-fare, high quality transatlantic scheduled services, which commenced on 5 July 1996 between Fort Lauderdale in Florida and London Gatwick at a frequency of two return flights per week. Additional scheduled services subsequently linked Orlando with Manchester and Glasgow Prestwick. Laker Airways, Inc ceased operations in 1998. According to the September 15, 1994 edition of the Official Airline Guide (OAG]), the airline was operating nonstop Boeing 727-200 jet service between its"
"victory in Australia. Freddie Laker, who had pioneered low-fare commercial transatlantic routes and was the founder of Laker Airways, became interested in developing international commercial/charter flights through Mexico to service the projected passenger traffic for the America's Cup challenge in San Diego. He met with Rodolfo Ramos Ortiz, who had introduced charter operations in Mexico in the 1970s and founded Aerounión and Aerocharter de México, S.A. de C.V. Negotiations failed but the concept of a cross-border terminal continued to evolve. In 1989, Ralph Nieders, who had been involved in the Freddie Laker discussions, made a formal proposal to Mexicana de"
"waterbed. Operations ended within a year of its creation amid the 1973 oil crisis. Freelandia Freelandia was a low-cost airline travel charter company owned by founder Kenneth Moss that operated in 1973 and the beginning of 1974. Freelandia also functioned as a travel club, for an initial fee of $25 club members were eligible for fares as low as $87 to fly between Newark and Los Angeles. It flew two aircraft, an ex-United DC-8-21 which was painted entirely in a semi-dark yellow with a waving hand as its logo on the tail and a Convair 880. Their philosophy expressed itself"
"licences, the airline was experiencing financial difficulties and had to dispose of three A300 widebodies to cut costs by reducing the number of aircraft types as well as its overall size. Laker Airways intended to commence operations on both routes during the spring of 1982, operating two flights a day each way using spare capacity on its remaining BAC One-Elevens. The airline ceased to exist before the inaugural date. Laker introduced a short-lived scheduled service between Manchester and Zürich during 1981, which it operated at one flight per day in each direction using a newly delivered A300 widebody. This route,"
"demand for cheap transatlantic air travel at fares below the official IATA minimum fares. This was also the time Laker Airways was battling the authorities on both sides of the Atlantic to gain approval for its revolutionary ""Skytrain"" low-fare, ""no frills"" transatlantic scheduled service that it intended to operate between London and New York City on a daily basis. The resulting compromise led to the framing of a set of new ""Advance Booking Charter"" (ABC) flight rules that did away with all of the onerous rules that had governed ""affinity group"" charters other than a four-week advance booking period (subsequently"
"airline in 1953, is credited with introducing this strategy. The New York Times called him a ""low-cost travel pioneer."" Between 1952 and 1962, Loftleiðir co-operated with the Norwegian airline Braathens SAFE on the transatlantic routes on a codeshare-like basis, as well as maintenance, inspection, overhaul and repairs. When the European focus shifted from Scandinavia to Luxemburg, this partnership was terminated. International Air Bahama, a small airline based in the Bahamas operating transatlantic Boeing 707 jet service between Nassau and Luxembourg, was acquired in 1969 with International Air Bahama subsequently operating stretched Super Douglas DC-8 jetliners on its transatlantic flights. In"
"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 in the aftermath of the global energy crisis caused by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' oil embargo, the UK's 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"
"eastern U.S. with all flights being operated with either Fokker F28 Fellowship or McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jets. Altair Airlines Altair Airlines was an airline based in Philadelphia. It was in service from 1967 to 1982. According to its June 15, 1982 system timetable, the Altair name was taken from the first magnitude star ""Altairius"" brightest in the constellation ""Aquila"" (Eagle) from which the airline's Blue Eagle symbol was derived. The airline was established in 1967 as a commuter airline operating small piston twin aircraft. In 1967, Altair's main shareholder was Tristram Colket and it had 587 employees. In May 1970,"
"it carried thousands of holidaymakers from the Western parts of the then divided German capital to resorts in the Mediterranean and Canary Islands. In 1972, Laker Airways co-founded Gatwick Handling, a Gatwick handling agent that has become part of the Aviance group, with Dan-Air. Each airline owned 50% of Gatwick Handling at its inception. Laker Airways pioneered cost-saving to reduce its engines' wear and tear, reduce fuel consumption, and achieve greater range than indicated by the manufacturers' range specifications. Laker Airways was first to use the ""reduced thrust"" take-off technique it had developed for the BAC One-Eleven. Reducing the BAC"
"(where competition with the Acela Express is fierce) and on the Eastern shores of Australia. Laker's most important legacy was that pioneering low-fare services across the Atlantic helped pave the way for low-cost airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair, liberating the industry from the regulatory straitjacket IATA had imposed for decades in collusion with governments. These governments invariably were sole or majority owners of most IATA airlines. This was Laker's greatest contribution to its industry's future development. However, unlike Laker, the vast majority of low-cost airlines have limited themselves to short and midrange flights and shunned the longrange market. Almost"
"during the emergency. The citation for the Queen's Award stated that ""the crew displayed a high standard of airmanship in circumstances which could have had very serious consequences"". Laker operated the following aircraft types at various times over the years: At London Southend Airport is the ""Lakers bar & restaurant"", named after the airline. Laker Airways Laker Airways was a wholly private, British independent 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 London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England. It became the second long-haul,"
"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. 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 consequences for the business that employed him. Laker's early post-war business ventures (prior to 1960) included: Freddie Laker founded Aviation Traders in October 1947. It was based at Southend Airport, Essex, England and specialised in converting"
"2017. Norwegian Air International performed its first transatlantic flight with a Boeing 737-800 on June 16, 2017 between Edinburgh Airport and Stewart Airport, New York. The first transatlantic flight with a 737 MAX was performed on July 15, 2017, with a MAX 8 named ""Sir Freddie Laker"", between Edinburgh Airport in Scotland and Bradley International Airport in the US state of Connecticut, followed by a second rotation from Edinburgh to Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York. On 11 May 2018, its US Department of Transportation approval was maintained by a judicial panel after being challenged by four unions representing"
"was a director of Atlas Express Ltd (which provided nationwide parcel delivery services) and managing director of Atlas Air Express. In the late 1950s he used Freddie Laker's Channel Air Bridge car ferry flights from Southend to Rotterdam and Ostend and working with continental hauliers established 'TRUKAIR', an integrated and fast European delivery network connecting the UK with the Common Market and Scandinavia. This was a pioneering venture ahead of the arrival of daily ro-ro ferry services linking the UK with the Continent. When business declined the family had to leave Chippinghurst Manor and move to a smaller house. The"
"the later postwar years of the 20th century (post-1960): Laker Airways 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 Britannias. 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 jets. Initially, Laker Airways was a charter airline 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"