Freddie Laker - Legacy

Legacy

Laker was the 2002 recipient of the Tony Jannus Award for his distinguished contributions to commercial air transportation. He is remembered for his famous advice to fellow airline entrepreneurs Sir Richard Branson, of Virgin Atlantic, and Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, of easyJet, to "sue the bastards", a reference to the bullying tactics of British Airways in trying to force upstarts out of business. Virgin Atlantic later named one of its Boeing 747s The Spirit of Sir Freddie. In addition, Malaysia's low-cost, long-haul carrier AirAsia X named its first Airbus A330 Semangat Sir Freddie in homage to the pioneer of "no-frills" air travel.

He was also the subject of a musical, Laker!, as performed at Not In Front Of The Audience in 1982, and written by Mel Smith and Peter Brewis in reaction to Laker Airways' bankruptcy.