by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright October 25, 2003
All Rights Reserved.

nding a glorious era of aviation, the 27-year-old supersonic jet Concorde completed its final flights touching down almost simultaneously at London's Heathrow and New York's JFK airports. Begun as a joint public venture with British and French engineers in the late 1950s, the Concorde became a reality in 1976, crossing the Atlantic in half-the-time, around 3-hours. With its elongated nosecone, the sleek commercial jet gave well-heeled flyers a thrill, flying at Mach 2, two-times the speed of sound, about 700-mph. After its initial hullabaloo, the Concorde got bogged down trying to fill seats, leaving most flyers unwilling to incur the whopping price tag of supersonic travel. After crashing in July 2000 killing 113, both British Airways and Air France couldn't justify growing maintenance problems. When Sept. 11 sent the airline industry into a tailspin, the Concorde was doomed.

      Considered a marvelous accomplishment in 1976, the Concorde was the pride of Britain and France, yet eclipsed by the U.S. space program, especially the moon landing July 20, 1969. “There was a sense that the Concorde was the last decent thing we ever did in this country. And now we don't have it anymore,” said British TV personality Jeremy Clarkson, speaking from his cell-phone on the Concorde's final flight, lamenting British Airways and Air France pulling the plug. Though maintenance added to the costs, the Concorde was still mechanically fit to fly. Business concerns—not engineering—were responsible for grounding the beak-nosed fleet of supersonic jets. “Technically it's a great plane, but as a economic model it was a failure,” said Rigas Doganis, former chairman and CEO of Greece's Olympic Airways, now a professor of airlines economics and author living in London.

      With its unique aerodynamic design the Concorde only held between 90-100 passengers, including about10 crew. Since Sept. 11, British Airways and Air France have had difficulty filling flights, especially its first class accommodations. Though only 12 planes remained in service, a costly maintenance program was slated over the next five years, prompting the end of the program. When Airbus, Europe's leading airplane maker, announced it would end its servicing contract in 2003, British Airways and Air France decided to call it quits. Unwilling to accept the decision, the owner of Virgin Atlantic airlines Richard Branson offered to purchase five Concordes for $8.5 million, trying to keep the fleet in the sky. “It's an absolute myth that the Concorde loses money,” said Branson, insisting that the supersonic marvel can be made both mechanically and fiscally viable.

      Showing that there's more at stake than money or safety, British Airways rejected Branson's offer, insisting that the Concorde was destined for a flying museum. Branson sees flying as more that transporting passengers, valuing the Concorde's engineering accomplishments. “Flying should be glamorous,” said Branson, unwilling to put the Concorde in mothballs. When NASA abandoned moon landings and put all its eggs into the Space Shuttle, the U.S. lost the “glamorous” dimension the space program. With the recent Columbia disaster grounding the shuttle program, the U.S. enviously watched China complete its first manned space flight on Oct. 16. Planning more missions to come, the Chinese have raised the bar, promising to build a permanent space station on the moon. Grounding the Concorde gives the British and French little to cheer about, reminiscing about conquering supersonic travel.

      Without a replacement, Europeans must be content watching Airbus compete with Boeing to build the world's largest passenger jet. Pulling the plug on the Concorde's maintenance, Airbus also opted for pragmatics over making new breakthroughs and setting standards in the aviation industry. “I think Branson could make it work,” said Peter Hynes, a 66-year-old British Airways flight cabin officer who broke the Atlantic crossing time record, traveling from Healthrow to JFK on Jan. 1, 1983 in 2 hours, 56 minutes. Like the U.S., Britain is currently mired in Iraq fighting terrorists and former members of Iraq's Baathist regime. Without setting new records and breaking new ground, the U.S. and Britain are confined by the low expectations of fighting global terrorists. Bush and Blair must do much more than confine nationalistic goals—and pride—to finding Saddam's of weapons-of-mass-destruction.

      Grounding the Concorde is yet another regressive step lowering expectations about new accomplishments. No war—no matter how righteous—can replace great nationalistic goals like sending men to mars or building the first space station on the moon. Preventing Branson from purchasing the Concorde Fleet, British Airways does nothing to promote its country's forward march of progress. When the Concorde first flew commercially in 1976, British and French aerospace overcame a massive inferiority complex, induced in no small part by the U.S. space program. With China poised to overtake the U.S. space program, Britain and France shouldn't fold its tent on the Concorde. If British Airways or Air France can't justify the program, they should pass the baton to Virgin Atlantic's Richard Branson or someone else willing to give the Concorde another chance.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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