Sir Freddie Laker – a true pioneer remembered

VIRGIN chief Sir Richard Branson said Sir Freddie Laker gave him the best advice he ever received. “Sue the bastards,” Sir Freddie told him when Branson was involved in a bitter battle with British Airways following his launch of transatlantic flights.

Sir Richard paid tribute to his mentor, who died last week aged 83, and took a swipe at their common rival.

“Sir Freddie was driven out of business by BA and paid £10 million in compensation,” said Sir Richard. “His best advice was to make sure I took BA to court before it bankrupted us.”

Sir Richard did, and won damages from BA in 1993 following a libel action.

It was Sir Freddie who first introduced cheap transatlantic air travel in 1977 when his Laker Skytrain jets flew to New York.

In doing so, he not only paved the way for Virgin Atlantic, but also for the likes of EasyJet and Ryanair. His discount tickets heavily undercut BA and the US airlines of the day, Pan Am and TWA, while boosting transatlantic travel by a third in the late 1970s.

Yet although passengers supported the price revolution, Skytrain was blighted by fierce competition and spiralling costs. It ceased operations in 1982 owing £270 million.

Sir Freddie surfaced again in the UK in 1996, setting up a Laker Airways operation to Florida from Gatwick, Manchester and Prestwick. But this failed in the face of stiff competition and he lived out the rest of his days in the US and the Bahamas.

EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou paid tribute to Sir Freddie, calling him a “true pioneer”.

“His battle with British Airways was a watershed in the development of the more liberalised environment that has led to the growth of low-cost flying,” said Haji-Ioannou.