Word: skytrains
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Dates: during 1977-1977
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...round trip, the flights are the cheapest to wing over the Atlantic since the days of student and youth-fare discounts in the early 1970s. Freddie Laker, the British aviation innovator, finally got his New York-London Skytrain shuttle off the ground last week, after 6% years of bucking the world's established airlines and his own government through marathon rounds of regulatory hearings and court battles. A classic free enterpriser, Laker is convinced that he can make a profit by bringing transoceanic travel within the reach of almost anyone: backpacking youths, retired folks, modestly paid workers-especially those...
...which, plus the hardships of standing in line for the no-reservations Skytrain, lent an air of start-of-an-era pioneering adventure to Laker's inaugural takeoffs, as TIME Reporter-Researcher Sue Raffety discovered when she boarded the first New York-London Skytrain...
These plans are only the latest salvos in the air-fare war. This month Pan Am, TWA and some foreign flag carriers will begin offering New York-London cut-rate fares that compete with the $236 round-trip Skytrain shuttle designed by Britain's upstart Laker Airways. Within the U.S., airlines have been announcing a profusion of cheap fares since last April; that was when American Airlines set off the bargain binge by offering advance-booked coast-to-coast flights at a "supersaver" round-trip fare of $231, which is 45% under the standard economy rate. Other carriers have...
...London on his 13-jet Laker Airways for $236-almost $100 less than the cheapest non-charter fare-starting Sept. 26. Last week six major airlines countered with a cut-rate transatlantic fare of their own, tossing in some of the amenities that Laker's no-frills "Skytrain" omits...
Laker's Skytrain terms are likely to be greeted favorably on the U.S. side of the Atlantic. New CAB Chairman Alfred Kahn, reflecting a refreshing willingness of the board to be less restrictive, says such special kinds of service are a "good thing" and foresees further rule relaxing to permit more efficient use of aircraft. This could result in cheaper rates between many destinations. At $236, Laker's fare already is the lowest transatlantic price in years. It is barely a fourth of the $830 minimum on the Queen Elizabeth 2. Indeed, it is $14 less than...