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 "low cost / no-frills" airline business model that has since proven to be successful worldwide when employed by companies such as Ryanair, Southwest Airlines, easyJet, Norwegian Air, and AirAsia.

Laker came from Canterbury in Kent, and attended the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, before starting work in aviation with Short Brothers in Rochester.

He was a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary during and immediately after the Second World War (1941–46).

He then worked briefly for British European Airways (BEA) and London Aero Motor Services (LAMS).

Having borrowed £38,000 from a wealthy friend to top up his own savings of £4,500, he subsequently went into business as a war-surplus aircraft dealer.

Freddie Laker founded Aviation Traders in October 1947.

It was based at Southend Airport, Essex, England and specialised in converting numerous war-surplus bombers and transporters into freighters.

This included the conversion of Handley Page Halifax bombers into freighters, six of which were sold to Bond Air Services, an early post-war British independent airline.

The Soviet blockade of West Berlin in 1948–49, during which all available aircraft were needed to fly essential supplies into West Berlin, allowed his business to flourish, as this provided more than a year's work for his planes and employees almost immediately.

During this period Laker often flew the aircraft himself.

Bond Air Services based these planes at Wunstorf aerodrome in West Germany to carry essential supplies into West Berlin during the Berlin Blockade of 1948–49.

Bond Air Services furthermore contracted Aviation Traders to service these planes.

In return, Aviation Traders got half of Bond Air Services' freight charges.

Following the end of the Berlin Airlift in 1949, Laker had most of the Halifaxes he had supplied to various independent airlines during the Airlift scrapped at its Southend facilities.

He also made use of these facilities for the subsequent conversion of several DC-4/C-54 Skymaster airframes into Carvairs for various operators around the world.

In addition, Aviation Traders re-engined Argonauts, BOAC's Canadian-built Canadair North Stars, with unused Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engines, which it sourced from the 88 spare Merlins Freddie Laker had acquired earlier along with BOAC's entire fleet of Haltons – former Royal Air Force Halifax bombers that had been converted to carry passengers and cargo – and several Avro Tudors purchased from the Government.

It also produced an all-new aircraft design, the ATL-90 Accountant.

In 1951, Aviation Traders (Engineering), a sister company of Aviation Traders, won a contract from Bristol Aircraft to manufacture wing centre sections for Bristol Freighters.

Between the beginning of 1952 and the end of 1955, Aviation Traders (Engineering) built 50 wing sections for Bristol Aircraft.

By 1954, Channel Air Bridge, his second airline venture, was flying cars and their owners in Bristol Freighters from Southend Airport (Rochford) to Calais.

In 1958, he sold Air Charter, Aviation Traders and Channel Air Bridge to Airwork.

In 1958, Laker announced his decision to sell both Aviation Traders and Air Charter to Airwork for £600,000 cash plus a further £200,000, subject to the valuation of stock.

All three companies joined the Airwork group in 1959.

The deal became effective in January 1959, when Aviation Traders and Air Charter joined the Airwork group.

Following the Airwork–Hunting-Clan merger in 1960, he became managing director of British United Airways.

Laker's early post-war business ventures (prior to 1960) included:

He left British United in 1965 and formed his own Laker Airways, in 1966, initially operating charter flights with a pair of turboprop planes acquired second-hand from British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).

The livery was a mixture of black and red with a bold LAKER logo on the tailplane.

He offered a new, revolutionary concept of economic air travel requiring passengers to purchase their tickets on the day of travel as well as to buy their own food.

These flights were operated by Laker Airways and marketed under the Skytrain trademark.

His daughter, Elaine, was by his first wife Joan with whom he also had a son, Kevin, who died in 1965 at the age of 17 after crashing a sports 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.

He was knighted in 1977, the year after the successful launch of Skytrain, in recognition of his services to the airline industry.

He received an honorary degree from the University of Strathclyde in 1981.

Laker divided his final years between his waterfront home in Princess Isle, Grand Bahama Island, where he kept his yacht, The Lady Jacqueline, and Florida.

Laker died at the age of 83 in a suburban hospital in Hollywood in Florida, following complications from cardiac surgery to implant a pacemaker.

He was survived by his fourth wife, Jacqueline Harvey, a former airline hostess he married in 1985, and also by two of his children.