I thank M.Mouse for the feedback on my statement that Concordes were profitable and would respectfully point out that I would not consider myself to be in the rose-tinted spectacle camp ;o)
Certainly, there is no question that the aircraft are increasingly maintenance-intensive (particularly when compared with the newer breeds in service).
However, whilst I do not believe that BA would knowlingly throw away something that they considered to be profitable, the emphasis would be on the word 'knowingly'. BA has hardly dazzled me with its marketing wizardry and foresight over the past few years (trendy tail-art, obsession with business travellers whilst Easyjet et al take the low cost market away from them, etc).
At the end of the day, if these really were such a white elephant, why didn't they realise it before the expensive (and heavily publicised) refit and why aren't they being more candid about it in public - surely a bit of transparency would help get them out of the
PR mess they're now in?
Regardless of all of the above, I think my main point remains valid - the type certificate may well have been up for grabs and somebody else may well have been able to keep them flying profitably (even just using up the remaining airframe life on experience flights if it had to come to that).
To their ever-lasting shame, BA (and AF) removed any chance of this even being a possibility.