Bohemian pioneer of cheap transatlantic flights Sir Freddie Laker dies at 83 |
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Fri, 10 Feb 2006 15:05
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LONDON - Sir Freddie Laker, who pioneered the concept of low-cost air travel, has died of undisclosed causes in Miami yesterday. Laker was 83. His death was revealed by a family source who requested anonymity.
Sir Laker introduced the concept of cheap airfares in the 1970s with the launch of Laker Skytrain, which offered cheap transatlantic fares. He was knighted in 1978, but his airline was forced to shut shop in 1982 as a result of fierce competition and pricing battles. The company owed closed to £270 million when it was forced to shut down.
Many of today's low-cost airlines and built on similar lines as Laker's low-cost model. Members of the Public wanted to see Laker's airline in business again and they launched a "Save Laker" campaign and managed to collect close to £1 million in donations. Sir Freddie himself made many attempts to relaunch his airline, but was unsuccessful and was finally barred from doing so by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Sir Freddie then moved to Miami and thence to Bahamas where he was involved in smaller projects. Paying rich tributes to Sir Freddie, Richard Branson, the Virgin boss said, "I think we all have a lot to thank him for. If it hadn't been for Sir Freddie you wouldn't most likely have had Virgin Atlantic. You wouldn't have had the Easyjets of this world."
He added that Virgin Atlantic had dedicated a plane in Sir Freddie's honor, "Virgin Atlantic named one of our planes Spirit of Sir Freddie in recognition of our respect for him. He was a larger-than-life figure, with a wicked sense of humour and a great friend," Branson said.
Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the Easyjet founder said he was saddened by Sir Freddie's death and had been inspired by him, "He was competing with British Airways and the American Airlines back then, before there were the laws to support him and protect him and therefore the big airlines succeeded in putting him out of business," he observed.
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