Laker Flew Air Cargo

     Freddie Laker died last Thursday in Florida.
     He was 83 years old.
     Laker was one of a small group of colorful airline entrepreneurs who dreamed big dreams and moved the entire industry in the process.
     When Laker Airways launched transatlantic Skytrain flights in 1977 charging as little as $135 one-way to fly from New York to Britain, there was Freddie his armed folded at the ladder of his DC10 talking into the camera saying:
     “I think it is absolutely outrageous what the big carriers charge to fly—and Laker Airways is going to change that.”
     Laker was the first budget airline.
     Freddie Laker was Herb Kelleher, Richard Branson and David Neeleman and Michael O’Leary before any of those guys thought about no-frills airlines.
     Later Branson even credited Laker for some of the success of Virgin Atlantic.
     "Perhaps his best advice was to make sure that I took British Airways to court before they bankrupted us — not after, as he (Laker) did."
     But Sir Freddie was much more than airline builder.
     Doubtless there are many stories about Sir Freddie now that he is gone.
     Once we rode together in a car and talked and Freddie recalled how he got his start in the airline business as a cargo pilot carrying Rhesus monkeys into the UK aboard converted Lancaster bombers during the early 1950’s.
     “They were using the animals to come up with a cure for polio,” Sir Freddie said.
     “Those monkeys pissed all the way from India to London,” he said.
     “We used to have two stewards in full underwater wet suits with goggles to look after the animals,” he laughed.
     Later when Sir Freddie was named “Man of the Year” at LaGuardia Airport he showed up to the black tie gala with a beautiful lady he was dating and spent most of the evening talking to her and dancing and joking with others at The Terrace on the Park where the event was held.
     When time came for Sir Freddie to deliver his acceptance speech he spoke a few words and disappeared into the night with a wink saying:
     “If this lady were your date would you hang round here?”
     People at LaGuardia are still talking about that one.
     Freddie had an eye for beautiful women.
     The last time I saw him was at a farewell party in Miami for George Batchelor seven years ago.
     I asked him what he was doing and he said, “flying gamblers to the Cayman Islands.”
     Although he was still in the airline business, the fire within Sir Freddie had dimmed a bit although as always, he brightened noticeably while talking to his wife Jacqueline.
     Sir Freddie was the genuine article, an aviation icon that pioneered the way for a new generation of airline that today is sweeping the world.
     He was also a hell of a lot of fun.
     Happy Landings Sir Freddie.
(Geoffrey)