Many of these battles were fought and defined a long time before. They are not new issues, simply the business cycle repeating itself - for a variety of reasons.
In discussing the history of Freddy Laker and the origins of Laker Airways, I would thoroughly recommend you read "Fly me I'm Freddy" by Roger Eglin and Berry Ritchie. ISBN 0892561270. The authors were (are?) Sunday Times journalists and the book is exceptionally well researched and substantiated. You will learn a considerable amount about the UK airline business; the Airlines that are no longer around; and the origins of low cost air travel. It is NOT a recent phenomena and the British Aircraft manufacturers had much to thank Laker for, including launching the BAC-111 and the VC-10. His own design at Aviation Traders, the Accountant although never produced, was remarkably similar to the HS-748, yet another revolutionary design in it's day.
The book was written in 1980, so does not deal with the ensuing failure of Laker Airways and the lawsuits that followed. Whilst the major airlines denied the existance of demand for low-cost airlines, a booming "charter club" business sprung up to deliver the product that the consumer demanded! Cheap travel was in demand, and savvy business's provided it! Travel costs were reduced to affordable levels such that the average person could consider using air-travel. It was volume that created the airline business, it was low cost travel that created the volume!
I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who is relatively new to the industry, as it is an excellent primer for the development of the post-war British aviation industry.
It is also worth reading "Losing my Virginity" by Richard Branson, as this details much of the same type of institutionalized resistance and power that was wielded against another carrier in the next cycle.