Word: laker
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Thirty-six and a half hours to... takeoff? Lindbergh made it to Paris in less time 50 years ago, when Freddie Laker was a toddler of four. What's more, Lindy did not have a toothache, as did I, and he was warmer and drier. My wait began at noon Sunday in London-style rain and drizzle outside the Laker Travel Center in Queens, New York, five miles from Kennedy Airport. Not until 12:38 a.m. Tuesday-1% hours behind schedule -did we lift off from Kennedy...
...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...