Word: laker
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...long wait occurred because I had to be on that first London-bound Skytrain, and it attracted the kind of people who flock to never-to-be-repeated phenomena. Laker held firmly to the first-come, first-served rule: in London, awaiting the first flight to New York City, Freddie had to sign on as a "crew" member to avoid queuing up. I was 13th in line in New York. First was Nick Ratner, 18, who had hitchhiked and bused from California...
...Freddie Laker, who had arrived from London Monday evening, kept us entertained after we were bused to the airport. Beer in hand, he jumped on a bar at the United Air Lines terminal (where Laker passengers departed) and bubbled, "We've got an important job to do-go flying." The crowd broke into For He's a Jolly Good Fellow. He shot off barbs at IATA. Said he: "The next time IATA starts to rip off customers, they will be very wary and say, 'Watch out. There may be another Freddie Laker.' " Finally, just before midnight...
...long last, the plane rumbled down the runway, and Laker gave us the word from the cockpit: "Ladies and gentlemen, your Skytrain is in the air." The food arrived in about an hour, served by stew- ardesses in red uniforms who maneuvered in the narrow aisles between the ten-across seats: cold but moist fried chicken, a questionable salad, a soggy roll and a decent piece of chocolate cake. I ignored the movie Swashbuckler, tried unsuccessfully to sleep (my seat back would not stay put), did not eat breakfast (the sausages looked inedible) and saw dawn break over the Atlantic...
With Skytrain in the air, transatlantic passengers have a choice of fares ranging all the way from Laker's $236 to $1,312 first class (see box). Gripes one British travel agent: "What we need each morning is a sort of situation-room briefing that would detail just what fares we can and can't sell that...
...Laker anticipated the difficulty of starting a low-fare service in the fall and seems prepared to ride out a lackluster winter. He insists that he can break even if only 189 of the 345 seats on each of his flights are filled. Laker, who started as a civilian pilot and made his first coup in 1948 supplying planes to the Berlin airlift, runs a strict, no-frills operation on the ground as well as in the air. Headquarters of the line-which up to now has mostly operated charter flights-are stuffed into four floors of a Gatwick hangar...