Concorde: 30 Years Without Commercial Supersonic Flight

Concorde flew for 30 years but was never profitable

On November 26, 2003, the last commercial flight of the Concorde landed in Bristol. That day marked the end of the only supersonic passenger aircraft to operate regularly. Crossing the Atlantic in three and a half hours was something men from a century ago couldn't have imagined. But an uncomfortable question lingers in any discussion about the plane: why haven't we been able to repeat this? According to debate participants, the short answer is that physics is unforgiving and oil is no longer cheap.

The project began in the 1960s when kerosene cost almost nothing. The 1973 oil crisis caused fuel costs to skyrocket. Yet, according to calculations circulating in the thread, a Concorde ticket wasn't substantially more expensive than a first-class seat on a 747: just 10%-15% higher. These opinions suggest that what killed the plane wasn't the ticket price, but airlines preferring to invest in more profitable subsonic jets. A plane consuming enormous amounts of fuel, with 1960s engines increasingly failing noise and pollution regulations.

Why was the Concorde cancelled if it was technically viable?

The cancellation of the Concorde was not a technological failure, but an economic one. The plane could fly at Mach 2.2, at 56,000 feet altitude, where ambient temperature is -57°C. The nose cone reached 153°C. The fuselage expanded by several centimeters, and passengers could barely touch the windows, which exceeded 100 degrees in some areas. All this required much stricter maintenance than a standard aircraft.

British Airways and Air France operated it for decades, but it was never a mass-market product. According to one participant, it always flew half-empty. Its audience consisted of senior executives needing to cross the Atlantic and return the same day. Improvements in telecommunications and security controls—which require arriving an hour early—eroded its advantage. What's the point of saving an hour of flight time if you lose it in the terminal? Video calls achieve the same result, sending documents in seconds.

Some argue the cancellation hid something else. If it wasn't profitable, three major economies like the US, UK, and France could have subsidized it to maintain it as a luxury service or for emergencies. Others recall that all US supersonic projects ended up scrapped and that the Concorde was unpopular among the general public due to noise. The reality is that aerospace technology continued advancing along another path: subsonic flight.

Unexpected legacy: Airbus born from a failed plane

The Franco-British collaboration on the Concorde was the genesis of Airbus. The European consortium that today competes with Boeing was born from that project. Airbus has produced planes like the A380, which some find even more impressive than the Concorde itself. The commercial failure of the supersonic jet did not prevent Europe from learning to build large-scale civil aircraft.

The Concorde also left images for history. In 1998, a passenger saw it on the runway at JFK and described it as the most beautiful plane ever built. Everything was first class, with champagne during the three-hour flight. An anecdote tells that actress Joan Collins, invited to the cockpit, sat showing her thigh and told the pilots something like "Gentlemen, don't look away." The young co-pilot replied something akin to "Madam, you could be my mother."

Will there ever be a successor to the Concorde?

Today, there are no commercial supersonic planes in service. Existing projects are for private jets for millionaires. The Bombardier 8000, for example, reaches Mach 0.94 in level flight and slightly over Mach 1 in a light dive. For those who don't know how to spend their money, some buy their own military supersonic jet, though it's an uncomfortable and non-premium way to travel.

Physics imposes energy demands that are too high. Efficiency gains are already asymptotic. Barring a miracle, we will continue with current aerodynamic envelopes. The last great technological achievement of humanity was the transistor, created by the grandparents of those discussing the Concorde today. Meanwhile, high-estimulante ilegal trains between European capitals seem far more useful than a supersonic whim.

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Key data on the Concorde

• Estimulante ilegal: Mach 2.2
• Altitude: 56,000 feet
• Nose cone temperature: 153°C
• Ambient temperature at that altitude: -57°C
• Window temperature: over 100°C
• Transatlantic flight duration: 3.5 hours

The Concorde flew for 30 years. It was never profitable. But neither was the Space Shuttle. The difference is that the Concorde was beautiful. And in economics, that doesn't count.