What Happened to the Concordes?
airandspace.si.edu
These days, it takes seven hours to fly from New York to London, compared to under three hours flying at twice the speed of sound on the Concorde. When I started my internship at the National Air and Space Museum, I was determined to learn why.

Why didn’t it succeed?

Concorde flights came to a screeching halt after only 27 years of operation on October 24, 2003. The reason? Excessive cost, high fares, and loud noise. On a regular flight, Concordes consumed 6,771 gallons of fuel, which quickly exceeded the profit made from the flight. In addition to that, only a total of 20 Concordes were built and no airline ordered them except for Air France and British Airways, who had to as they were state-run airlines at the time.

Oh, and a 2000 crash that killed everyone on board (109 people) and four people on the ground.

  • jqubed@lemmy.worldEnglish
    13·
    2 days ago

    They have a demonstrator flying which is honestly farther than I thought they would get. I still have a lot of doubts about the actual viability when all the engine manufacturers told them they could not supply an engine that meets their needs so they decided they would design and build their own engine, too. On the one hand, kudos for not giving up. On the other, how likely is it they’ll be able to do something the rest of the industry says can’t be done, or at least can’t be done economically? But I really hope they’re able to succeed!