Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later named Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty.
The graceful Concorde was a stunning technological achievement designed and built by Sud Aviation which later became a part of Aerospatiale (now Airbus) of France and the British Aircraft Corporation. In English and French, 'concord' or 'Concorde' means agreement or harmony.
In February 1965, construction of two prototypes finally began with Concorde 001 being built by Aerospatiale (formerly SUD Aviation) in Toulouse and Concorde 002 by BAC in Filton .
Boeing did attempt to build its own version of Concorde, designated as the Boeing 2707, in partnership with Lockheed. It even received 122 orders from 26 airlines. However in May 1971, the US House of Representatives voted to stop funding the project. Boeing had not even completed a prototype.
The Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 was an Anglo-French turbojet with reheat, which powered the supersonic airliner Concorde. It was initially a joint project between Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited (BSEL) and Snecma, derived from the Bristol Siddeley Olympus 22R engine.
The airline said that its decision had been made for commercial reasons with passenger revenue falling steadily against a backdrop of rising maintenance costs for the aircraft.
Why was Concorde retired? There were a multitude of factors that led to Concorde's retirement – both commercial and safety-related. The aircraft was noisy and extremely expensive to operate, which restricted flight availability and meant that fares were often prohibitively high for many consumers.
Pepsi therefore started to look around for a spectacular and efficient manner to advertise its new brand style and in the process enhance its sales. It was eventually decided to have an advertisement operation involving the Concorde.
Notably, Lufthansa was on the option list for three Concorde units from February 1967. However, the order for these jets was canceled by April 1973. So, it wasn't just the US supersonic jets that Lufthansa wasn't convinced about. The airline wasn't a great fan of supersonic options on either side of the Atlantic.
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.
The Concorde's production and operation was an enormous financial undertaking for both the United Kingdom and France, contributing to sky-high ticket pricing for most consumers.
The aircraft has been retired from service and all of its certification has been cancelled. The retired airframes have not been maintained, and are out of time to be re-certified. There is nobody left employable to maintain it. None of its systems are compatible with modern systems of navigation and air traffic.
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.
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. Concorde earned £500 million for British Airways after tax profit, this was between a loss making 1982 and a highly profitable 2000 with just seven aircraft.
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.
Cruising at Mach 2 – or 1,350 mph – at 60,000 feet, Concorde flew five miles above and 800 mph faster than the subsonic 747s plodding across the Atlantic. The radio chatter between aircraft could get interesting, according to Tye.
While restoring and flying one of the retired Concordes is theoretically possible, it is extremely unlikely. Only twenty airframes were built, of which 14 were put into commercial operation. No Concorde has flown in more than twenty years (meaning a huge amount of work would be needed to get one airworthy).
This was the only fatal incident involving Concorde; commercial service was suspended until November 2001. The surviving aircraft were retired in 2003, 27 years after commercial operations had begun. All but 2 of the 20 aircraft built have been preserved and are on display across Europe and North America.
The Concorde was the only supersonic commercial jet to fly internationally and had a top speed of 1,354mph. Flights were between three and a half to four hours long. Today's large airliners fly at about 600mph, and a London to New York flight takes eight hours on average.
Sonic Boom Constraints: The Concorde's supersonic speed generated a powerful shockwave known as a sonic boom. To avoid endangering densely populated areas, the aircraft was permitted to reach supersonic speeds only over the ocean.
According to ADN (Air Data News) Concorde was faster than Overture but Overture is expected to have a longer range 4,250nm v Concorde's 3,600nm and more importantly will fly using 100% SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuels), which is the real game-changer.
A few reasons: Concorde was a commercial failure. It may have looked and been cool but it did not make a profit for BAC/Aerospatiale and only in its later years was it profitable for British Airways.
Concorde guzzled four times more fuel than a jumbo jet like the Boeing 747, which could also carry nearly 500 passengers (Concorde's cramped seating arrangement could carry just 100). And a round-trip ticket in the 1990s could cost as much as $10,000 — about $20,000 in today's money.
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.
