3 ms·
Do you have a source for this? Like other folk who have replied, this is the opposite to my understanding, at least from the perspective of BA (I know nothing a
by darrenf 4y ago
Do you have a source for this? Like other folk who have replied, this is the opposite to my understanding, at least from the perspective of BA (I know nothing about AF). heritageconcorde.com[0] talk about almost 20 straight years of profitability:
> 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. The first profitable year was 1983 (£14 million) increasing to £54 million in 1987. BA had good and bad years, in 1992 they actually even made a small loss, but then quickly returned to profitability. Immediately before the crash the profit levels were running at nearly £60 million and could have returned had they kept flying. (Even the last 6 months of operation in 2003 netted £50 million profit).
And:
> With unprofitable routes mounting, Concorde was going through rough times in the early 1980s. At this point, British Airways made a move that potentially saved supersonic travel. In 1981, British Airways managing director Sir John King managed to purchase the Concorde fleet from the British Government outright for £16.5 million plus the first year’s profits. Following the purchase, British Airways increased fares, bringing Concorde routes closer to profitability. With the fleet now owned outright, British Airways added additional routes.
[0] https://www.heritageconcorde.com/concorde--british-airways https://www.heritageconcorde.com/concorde--british-airways
- mshook 4y agoFor AF, my understanding (and my source actually worked that side of the business) is Concorde got profitable with special flights (aka people renting the plane to travel the world) not from just your regular scheduled flights. But keep in mind neither BA nor AF really paid for their fleet...