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Concorde operational history
Concorde began scheduled flights with British Airways (BA) and Air France (AF) on 21 January 1976. AF flew its last commercial flight on 31 May 2003 with BA retiring its Concorde fleet on 24 October 2003.
Concorde 001 was modified with rooftop portholes and equipped with observation instruments for use during the solar eclipse of June 30, 1973. It performed the longest observation of a solar eclipse to date, about 74 minutes.
Scheduled flights began on 21 January 1976 on the London–Bahrain and Paris–Rio de Janeiro (via Dakar) routes, with BA flights using the Speedbird Concorde call sign to notify air traffic control of the aircraft's unique abilities and restrictions, but the French using their normal call signs. The Paris-Caracas route (via Azores) began on 10 April. The US Congress had just banned Concorde landings in the US, mainly due to citizen protest over sonic booms, preventing launch on the coveted North Atlantic routes. The US Secretary of Transportation, William Coleman, gave permission for Concorde service to Dulles International Airport, and Air France and British Airways simultaneously began a thrice-weekly service to Dulles on 24 May 1976. Due to low demand, AF cancelled its Washington service in October 1982, while BA cancelled it in November 1994.
When the US ban on JFK Concorde operations was lifted in February 1977, New York banned Concorde locally. The ban came to an end on 17 October 1977 when the Supreme Court of the United States declined to overturn a lower court's ruling rejecting efforts by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a grass-roots campaign led by Carol Berman to continue the ban. Despite complaints about noise, the report noted that Air Force One, at the time a Boeing VC-137, was louder than Concorde at subsonic speeds and during takeoff and landing. Scheduled service from Paris and London to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport began on 22 November 1977.
In December 1977, BA and Singapore Airlines started sharing a Concorde for flights between London and Singapore International Airport at Paya Lebar via Bahrain. The aircraft, BA's Concorde G-BOAD, was painted in Singapore Airlines livery on the left side and BA livery on the right side. The service was discontinued after three return flights because of noise complaints from the Malaysian government;[failed verification] it could only be reinstated on a new route bypassing Malaysian airspace in 1979. A dispute with India prevented Concorde from reaching supersonic speeds in Indian airspace, so the route was eventually declared not viable and discontinued in 1980.
During the Mexican oil boom, AF flew Concorde twice weekly to Mexico City's Mexico City International Airport via Washington, DC, or New York City, from September 1978 to November 1982. The worldwide economic crisis during that period resulted in this route's cancellation; the last flights were almost empty. The routing between Washington or New York and Mexico City included a deceleration, from Mach 2.02 to Mach 0.95, to cross Florida subsonically and avoid creating a sonic boom over the state; Concorde then re-accelerated back to high speed while crossing the Gulf of Mexico. On 1 April 1989, on an around-the-world luxury tour charter, BA implemented changes to this routing that allowed G-BOAF to maintain Mach 2.02 by passing around Florida to the east and south. Periodically Concorde visited the region on similar chartered flights to Mexico City and Acapulco.[citation needed]
From December 1978 to May 1980, Braniff International Airways leased 11 Concordes, five from AF and six from BA. These were used on subsonic flights between Dallas–Fort Worth and Dulles International Airport, flown by Braniff flight crews. AF and BA crews then took over for the continuing supersonic flights to London and Paris. The aircraft were registered in both the United States and their home countries; the European registration was covered while being operated by Braniff, retaining full AF/BA liveries. The flights were not profitable and typically less than 50% booked, forcing Braniff to end its tenure as the only US Concorde operator in May 1980.
In its early years, BA's Concorde service had a greater number of "no-shows" (passengers who booked a flight and then failed to appear at the gate for boarding) than any other aircraft in the fleet.
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Concorde operational history
Concorde began scheduled flights with British Airways (BA) and Air France (AF) on 21 January 1976. AF flew its last commercial flight on 31 May 2003 with BA retiring its Concorde fleet on 24 October 2003.
Concorde 001 was modified with rooftop portholes and equipped with observation instruments for use during the solar eclipse of June 30, 1973. It performed the longest observation of a solar eclipse to date, about 74 minutes.
Scheduled flights began on 21 January 1976 on the London–Bahrain and Paris–Rio de Janeiro (via Dakar) routes, with BA flights using the Speedbird Concorde call sign to notify air traffic control of the aircraft's unique abilities and restrictions, but the French using their normal call signs. The Paris-Caracas route (via Azores) began on 10 April. The US Congress had just banned Concorde landings in the US, mainly due to citizen protest over sonic booms, preventing launch on the coveted North Atlantic routes. The US Secretary of Transportation, William Coleman, gave permission for Concorde service to Dulles International Airport, and Air France and British Airways simultaneously began a thrice-weekly service to Dulles on 24 May 1976. Due to low demand, AF cancelled its Washington service in October 1982, while BA cancelled it in November 1994.
When the US ban on JFK Concorde operations was lifted in February 1977, New York banned Concorde locally. The ban came to an end on 17 October 1977 when the Supreme Court of the United States declined to overturn a lower court's ruling rejecting efforts by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a grass-roots campaign led by Carol Berman to continue the ban. Despite complaints about noise, the report noted that Air Force One, at the time a Boeing VC-137, was louder than Concorde at subsonic speeds and during takeoff and landing. Scheduled service from Paris and London to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport began on 22 November 1977.
In December 1977, BA and Singapore Airlines started sharing a Concorde for flights between London and Singapore International Airport at Paya Lebar via Bahrain. The aircraft, BA's Concorde G-BOAD, was painted in Singapore Airlines livery on the left side and BA livery on the right side. The service was discontinued after three return flights because of noise complaints from the Malaysian government;[failed verification] it could only be reinstated on a new route bypassing Malaysian airspace in 1979. A dispute with India prevented Concorde from reaching supersonic speeds in Indian airspace, so the route was eventually declared not viable and discontinued in 1980.
During the Mexican oil boom, AF flew Concorde twice weekly to Mexico City's Mexico City International Airport via Washington, DC, or New York City, from September 1978 to November 1982. The worldwide economic crisis during that period resulted in this route's cancellation; the last flights were almost empty. The routing between Washington or New York and Mexico City included a deceleration, from Mach 2.02 to Mach 0.95, to cross Florida subsonically and avoid creating a sonic boom over the state; Concorde then re-accelerated back to high speed while crossing the Gulf of Mexico. On 1 April 1989, on an around-the-world luxury tour charter, BA implemented changes to this routing that allowed G-BOAF to maintain Mach 2.02 by passing around Florida to the east and south. Periodically Concorde visited the region on similar chartered flights to Mexico City and Acapulco.[citation needed]
From December 1978 to May 1980, Braniff International Airways leased 11 Concordes, five from AF and six from BA. These were used on subsonic flights between Dallas–Fort Worth and Dulles International Airport, flown by Braniff flight crews. AF and BA crews then took over for the continuing supersonic flights to London and Paris. The aircraft were registered in both the United States and their home countries; the European registration was covered while being operated by Braniff, retaining full AF/BA liveries. The flights were not profitable and typically less than 50% booked, forcing Braniff to end its tenure as the only US Concorde operator in May 1980.
In its early years, BA's Concorde service had a greater number of "no-shows" (passengers who booked a flight and then failed to appear at the gate for boarding) than any other aircraft in the fleet.