Why did they stop using the Concorde?

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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The official line was that both the French and the UK governments agreed to end Concorde's flights, mainly because the costs of maintenance were going to be too great. The Treaty would not appear to prevent one side from going it alone but they would then have to shoulder all the costs.

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Technical, financial, and regulatory hurdles make a return to the skies extremely unlikely. Concorde is an aircraft that captures the imagination and is instantly recognizable even to non-aviation fanatics.

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Such speed didn't come cheap, though: A transatlantic flight required the high-maintenance aircraft to gulp jet fuel at the rate of one ton per seat, and the average round-trip price was $12,000.

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In real life, Diana took several trips aboard the Concorde, both with Prince Charles and solo.

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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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No manufacturer has yet been able to recreate the days of the Concorde, but some are trying. Denver-based Boom Supersonic is leading the pack with its faster-than-sound Overture jet, already securing over 100 orders from United Airlines, Japan Airlines, and American Airlines.

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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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Concorde used the most powerful pure jet engines flying commercially. The Aircraft's four engines took advantage of what is known as 'reheat' technology, adding fuel to the final stage of the engine, which produced the extra power required for take-off and the transition to supersonic flight.

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It's no secret that Richard Branson tried to buy the Concorde fleet from British Airways in 2003, when the airline was forced to close its supersonic operation. At the time BA dismissed the offer as a publicity stunt from Virgin, saying: maintenance would be too expensive and it is just not viable.

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Despite the crew being trained and certified, no plan existed for the simultaneous failure of two engines on the runway, as it was considered highly unlikely. Aborting the takeoff would have led to a high-speed runway excursion and collapse of the landing gear, which also would have caused the aircraft to crash.

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The Concorde was famously loud: a take-off at Washington airport in 1977 measured 119.4 decibels. By comparison, a clap of thunder hits 120 decibels while the pain threshold for the human ear is around 110.

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The wings of a 747 are nowhere near strong enough to mount an engine capable of supersonic flight. Generally, engines used in aircraft like the Concorde or the F-22 are skinny and long. They also weigh quite a fair amount, further requiring a complete overhaul of the way the engines would be supported.

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Aircraft safety are often tracked with fatal accidents per flight. This is a valid metric because most plane accidents, esp. fatal ones, occur on take off phase or landing phase, one of each per flight. On that metric the Concorde was the safest plane for many years with no fatal accidents from about 1976 to 2000.

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Over the Irish sea and rapidly running out of fuel the Tornado had a hard time catching up with the mighty Concorde. Over more than a hundred miles or so, 5–10 minutes the Concord could outrun every fighter.

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Concorde's fastest transatlantic crossing was on 7 February 1996 when it completed the New York to London flight in 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds. Concorde measured nearly 204ft in length and stretched between 6 and 10 inches in flight due to heating of the airframe.

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The Concorde Fleet - Breakdown of each air frame built “When you take off from New York in the dark, and see the sun rise in the west, you know you are doing something slightly different.” Between 1966 and 1979, a total of 20 Concordes were built, 10 of these were built in Britain and 10 in France.

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