Was Concorde too expensive?

It was small, cramped, and featured seats so narrow they would put Ryanair or Spirit Airlines to shame. The supersonic aircraft also offered a very noisy inflight experience by today's standards. The Concorde was also horrendously expensive to fly on, with very few enjoying the privilege during its 27 years in service.



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One of the issues that negatively affected the success of Concorde was the cost of fuel. On a regular flight, Concorde consumes 6,771 gallons of fuel. The cost of fuel quickly exceeded the profit made from the flight and rendered Concorde unprofitable to operate.

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BA never suffered a serious accident with its seven strong fleet. Concorde service was profitable by the late 1980s and if not for the economic downturn and Air France Concorde crash of 2000, may have survived to this day.

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The challenges of manufacturing and certifying new parts, maintaining a licensed flight crew capable of flying it, and ongoing maintenance and preservation mean we are no closer to seeing Concorde flying again since its last flight in 2003.

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Concorde is sadly no longer flying, but it is still possible to visit some of the remaining 18 airframes, there are others not open to the public but you can still see them.

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Surprisingly, Concorde pilots were paid the same salary as commercial line pilots at BA and Air France. Concorde pilots at BA have the same salary as any mainline pilots flying any other aircraft. There is a salary scale depending on length of service. Top salary is 120,700 sterling basic for captains.

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The Concorde carries about 119,500 liters (31,569 gallons) of fuel and burns about 25,629 liters (6,771 gallons) per hour in the air. But fuel isn't just for flying. It's also used to balance the plane.

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Air France Flight 4590 was the Concord's only fatal accident in its 31-year history (no other commercial aircraft has matched that record). At the time, with a record of zero accidents per km traveled before the accident, the Concorde qualified as the safest airliner in the world.

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But takeoff and landing inside are well known to be quite loud. And the very back of the cabin was dubbed rocket class. If you can find the British Airways 27 years supersonic service video, there is some cabin-footage taken with the plane at supersonic speed.

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The Concorde's retirement was due to a number of factors. The supersonic aircraft was noisy and extremely expensive to operate, which restricted flight availability. The operating costs required fare pricing that was prohibitively high for many consumers.

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Boom Supersonic's Overture plane is slated to roll out in 2025, fly in 2026 and expected to carry passengers by 2029. Capable of flying at speeds of Mach 1.7 – twice the speed of today's fastest airliners – Overture will be able to connect more than 500 destinations in nearly half the time.

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On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590 crashed shortly after take-off with all 109 occupants and four on the ground killed. This was the only fatal incident involving Concorde; commercial service was suspended until November 2001.

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Looping the loop I asked Jock Lowe if they ever did aerobatics when they were testing Concorde. He said they did execute barrel rolls, but never a loop-the-loop, although the aeroplane was more than capable of doing it. Doubtless it would have spilled some champagne.

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Former British Airways (BA) Concorde captain John Hutchinson said the fire on its own should have been 'eminently survivable; the pilot should have been able to fly his way out of trouble'. Hutchinson believed this did not happen due to a series of operational errors and 'negligence' by the maintenance department.

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Concorde 202, G-BBDG flew a tour of the Middle East for demonstration, visiting Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait, Muscat and Dubai. She then went on to Singapore for runway trials. Concorde 203, 204, 205 and 206 all made their maiden flights during 1975.

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Bathroom: The smallest room on Concorde was also a squeeze. Su Marshall, who flew on the airplane, said she was advised by a regular passenger to go before takeoff as the size made it impossible to pee once in the air.

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Supercharged: Concorde was the first -- and still only -- passenger aircraft that had turbojet engines with afterburners. Raw fuel was introduced into the exhaust of the plane's four engines, immediately increasing the engines' thrust by almost 20%.

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The Concorde was equipped with four Rolls-Royce afterburner engines, the same kind used on fighter jets, each of which generated 38,000 pounds of thrust. The bird used a slanted droop-nose that lowered upon takeoff and landing, enabling pilots to see the runway.

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