Business: Dogfight over the Atlantic

Six airlines are chasing Laker to London

Freddie Laker is no Rickenbacker, Lindbergh, Mitchell, Doolittle or Armstrong. But the feisty Englishman has made aviation history in his own way, by forcing transatlantic fares lower than major airlines had said they could ever go. In June, Laker won approval from the Carter Administration to offer round-trip flights between New York City and 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...