Originally Posted by
Flying Lawyer
Air France needed to dump it and wouldn't have wanted BA continuing. But, the design authority also wanted it taken out of service and wouldn't have supported Branson.
FL - interesting post - I've never before heard how far Branson went in serious discussions on keeping Concorde flying. However, you quite rightly make the point that the Design Authority wanted out, and that was an insurmountable obstacle. Branson must have known this (he's no fool either), which is why I think the whole thing was a Virgin / Branson publicity excercise.
The lack of support from the Design Authority is, in my opinion, the one obstacle to return to flight that is probably insurmountable, even if money was no object (which, of course, it always is). But everyone has their price, and I think that's where any 'return-to-flight' budget would reach into the billions - getting EADS on board again.
SSD