Topic: Freddie Laker

Sir Frederick Alfred Laker (6 August 1922 – 9 February 2006) was a British airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which spectacularly went bust in 1982. Laker was one of the first airline owners to adopt the "no-frills" airline business model that has since proven to be very successful worldwide with companies such as EasyJet, JetBlue, Ryanair, Southwest Airlines, AirAsia, WestJet and Virgin Blue.

Laker, originally from Canterbury, Kent and an old boy of the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, started working in aviation with Short Brothers in Rochester. He was a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary during and immediately after World War II (1941-46).

After World War II, he went into business as a war-surplus aircraft dealer. The Soviet blockade of West Berlin in 1948, during which all available aircraft were needed to fly essential supplies into West Berlin, allowed his business to flourish.