Freddie Laker
The Ultimate Sir Freddie Laker Quiz!
This weekend marks exactly 100 years since Sir Freddie Laker was born, and as part of our special Key Aero coverage, this week's commercial aviation quiz is a Laker special! From his formative years through to this final ventures, celebrate Sir Freddie's remarkable contribution to aviation in this ultimate test.
EXCLUSIVE: Sir Richard Branson's tribute to "mentor" Freddie Laker
In an exclusive tribute for Airliner World, Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, describes in his own words the influence Sir Freddie has had on him and the wider industry
Trijets in The Bahamas: Remembering Sir Freddie Laker
Lee Cross charts the turbulent final decades of Sir Freddie’s career, which embodied the aviation pioneer’s dogged determination and love for flying
Transatlantic take-off with Skytrain: Remembering Sir Freddie Laker
Freddie Laker always regarded America as the ultimate destination for the holiday charter market and applied for a licence to operate to the US – not only from the UK, but also from other European departure points
Laker Airways is born: Remembering Sir Freddie Laker
After founding Air Charter and growing a lucrative vehicle ferry service, Sir Freddie developed ambitious plans for even further expansion of his aviation empire
Diversifying business interests: Remembering Sir Freddie Laker
Leveraging his broad skillset to tap into enormous post-World War Two demand, Freddie Laker’s business interests diversified rapidly in the 1950s, albeit with mixed success
The early years: Remembering Sir Freddie Laker
Born during the interwar years and coming of age in a boom time for British aviation, the early efforts of Frederick Alfred Laker helped define his career trajectory
How one airline changed the way all airliners take-off
In a bid to find cost savings, bosses at one carrier in the 1970s stumbled upon a revolutionary idea that would alter the way most future commercial jet aircraft would take to the sky
ATL90 Accountant: Counting the cost
Post-war, aircraft manufacturers wanted to reflect the excitement of flying in the names of their latest creations. In building its first airliner, Southend’s Aviation Traders took a left field approach, christening it the ATL90 Accountant as it was intended to keep an airline’s finance department happy and its books in the black. Unfortunately for Freddie Laker, it put its manufacturer in the red, as Stephen Skinner details