Description

David Steen recalls: “Freddie pioneered cheap flights to the continent and to America with his Sky Train. I initially photographed him with the planes at Gatwick Airport and then with his racehorses. Freddie had a great lifestyle, enjoyed every day. When he invited me to Majorca, to spend time with him on his yacht Tutinella, I was there in a flash. Swanning around the Mediterranean with Freddie…what a life!”
Location: Majorca
Year: 1974
Biography: Working for the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War, Laker joined British United Airways in 1960 where he avidly absorbed all there was to learn about the management of an airline business. In 1966, he decided he would go it alone. Using second-hand planes, he formed Laker Airways and pioneered the concept of the ‘no-frills’ airline; passengers had to buy their tickets on the day of departure, and ‘extras’ like food and drink were sold separately. In 1973 he announced plans for a transatlantic service called Sky Train that would cost just a third of the prices charged by his established competitors. Lengthy legal disputes delayed Sky Train’s launch for three years, by which time the competition had lowered its prices accordingly. Nevertheless, it was a huge success and Laker became a popular icon of free enterprise who had taken on the big boys of business and won; in 1978 he was knighted. Sadly, with Britain in recession and the major airlines putting increasing price pressure on Laker Airways (an act later condemned as illegal by courts), the company went broke in 1982. Laker was so popular that the public donated a million pounds as a relief fund. Freddie died in 2006.
Print Type: Digital C-Type
Printed by: Metro Imaging, London
Limited Editions: All prints are limited editions, no further prints are produced once sold
Bespoke: All prints are bespoke and printed to order, stamped and numbered
Presentation: Prints are supplied to clients flat in an acid-free box or rolled in a tube
Watermark: Watermarks will not be present on an original print
Tags: freddie laker, laker airways, english airline entrepreneur
Copyright: © David Steen / The David Steen Archive