Introduced in 1988 by InsideFlyer magazine’s Randy Petersen, the “Freddies” are named in honour of Sir Freddie Laker and have grown in stature and importance to become the most prestigious member-generated awards in the travel loyalty industry. The goal of the Freddie Awards is to give voice to the frequent flyer and to honour the efforts of an industry that counts more than 300 million members worldwide.
Due to the social isolation requirements implemented after the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 awards were held via video, among the winners were the budget carrier Norwegian, who scooped the award for Programme of the year in Europe and Africa. Aeroflot's Bonus was the best Elite Programme for Europe and Africa whilst American Airlines took that honour in North America.
More than 3.6 million ballots were cast in this year's awards, the "30th Freddies" named after the commercial aviation pioneer Sir Freddie Laker, founder of Laker Airways Limited in 1966, which eventually became the largest individually and privately owned airline in the world. He also founded the “SKYTRAIN” service, which revolutionized the airline industry by offering the first no-reservation, low-cost air service. By 1981, over 2 million passengers had travelled SKYTRAIN.