Loughborough University houses historic Sir Freddie Laker records
The documents were discovered by East Cheshire councillor and retired financier Peter Hayes. It was a chance meeting between Mr Hayes and Sir Freddie’s widow Lady Jacqueline Laker that led to the entire collection of over 120 binders of records and documents being shipped back to Britain from the Bahamas.
The archive includes revealing documents relating to Sir Freddie’s historic legal battles with the UK Government and other state authorities to obtain licences to take on the big carriers and bring about an end to costly air travel which was mostly only accessible to the wealthy.
Sir Freddie was a hero to many but an enemy of the big carriers who applied a protectionist strategy to try to block the Laker rollercoaster which set the trend in no-frills air travel, later replicated by airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet.
Mr Hayes said: “Lady Jacqueline told me she was about to move house and wanted a place of safe keeping for her late husband’s papers, files and valuable documents, which filled her very large garage. I offered to help and made contact with Loughborough and David Gleave who is an old family friend.”
All the files are now safely stored in the university’s School of Civil and Building Engineering, Transport Studies section where it will be used for research purposes.
David Gleave is a mature student at Loughborough, currently studying for a PhD. He said:
“I am pleased to have played a part in saving these papers. The collection will be available to those researching the development of civil aviation and particularly British aviation in which Sir Freddie Laker played such an important role.”
Professor Tony Thorpe, Dean of the School of Civil and Building Engineering adds:
“This is an extremely exciting find. Nobody, outside his immediate family knew it existed. We are delighted to have saved these records and to have them stored here at Loughborough University.”
Lady Jacqueline Laker said: “My late husband would have been so pleased that Peter and David had taken so much trouble to save his records for posterity and for the benefit of aviation historians and students in Britain.”
“It has given me much satisfaction to know the papers are in the right place where those wanting to know about the growth of air travel can get access to it all."
Laker Airways began in 1966 with short-haul low cost travel to the Mediterranean and The Canaries operating out of Gatwick and Manchester airports and in 1977 it became the first long-haul, low cost no-frills airline to fly travellers across the pond to New York and Los Angeles.
Sir Freddie, who was born in Kent in 1922 and died in 2006, was seen as an archetypal post-war entrepreneur with the courage to take on the big operators but his company was under capitalised and the 80s recession combined with fluctuating market trends, an oil crisis and aggressive competition, brought about its demise in 1982.
