Laker Seeks to Bar Antitrust Suit Settlement

LONDON —  Cut-price air travel pioneer Sir Freddie Laker on Monday launched a bid to block an out-of-court settlement in a $1-billion antitrust case against some of the world’s major airlines.

Laker, who says the airlines conspired to drive him out of business in 1982, asked the London appeals court to reverse a ruling last week that cleared the way for a deal between the airlines and the liquidator of his failed Laker Airways.

British Airways, Pan Am, Trans World and seven other airlines have offered the liquidator and creditors of Laker Airways $48 million to drop the suit brought under U.S. antitrust laws. But Laker’s lawyers said the offer was inadequate.

British Airways said in a statement that defendants in the antitrust case had not withdrawn their offer to Laker.

The statement said the airlines would be seeking legal advice to establish whether Monday’s bid by Laker against the deal amounted to a rejection of the cash offer.

Judge Closes Court

Judge Sir Nicholas Browne-Wilkinson closed the court to the public to decide whether Laker had a genuine financial interest that would be needed to block the settlement. He said the court should issue a ruling today.

Laker had also been offered a personal payment of $8 million if he agreed to drop all claims over the collapse of his airline, but his lawyer, John Beveridge, said the airlines withdrew the offer when Laker refused the deal.

Laker, who got married last week, cut short his honeymoon to attend Monday’s private session. He refused to comment on the details of the case.

The flamboyant Laker pioneered no-frills discount flights and brought transatlantic travel within the reach of less-affluent Britons and Americans in the 1970s.

$1-Billion Suit

The liquidator, appointed after the collapse of Laker Airways in 1982, has been suing Laker’s competitors for damages of $1.05 billion on charges that they breached U.S. antitrust laws by plotting to drive Laker out of business.