Shaggy Sheep Driver
"an insurmountable obstacle. Branson must have known this"
I didn’t say there was an insurmountable obstacle. As mfaff points out, there is more than one way of complying with an obligation. See his paragraph beginning ‘What is more difficult to know ......’
It would be a mistake to assume that, at the time Branson talked about Virgin taking over Concorde, he knew what we all learned later. Many share your view, especially those who don’t care for him. I’ve said all I properly can without asking my contact how much I’m allowed to repeat, but what I've said isn't based on a hunch.
mfaff
An interesting dilemma...knowing Airbus's desperate requirement for more engineering support at Toulouse it seems possible that the senior, experienced engineers dedicated to Concorde were in theory more 'profitably' employed on a current design....if you are really cynical.
I happened to be sitting next to a senior chap from Airbus at the RAeS Centenary of Flight dinner who worked in the department directly relevant to this subject. He put forward very compelling arguments (although he didn’t change my mind as a committed Concorde fan) which were broadly what you suggest. In a nutshell - as Concorde got older, Airbus was spending more time on Concorde DA matters than on all the other models (combined) for which they are the DA. And, that they were effectively subsidising BA/AF ops by not charging the full cost. He conceded Concorde had another 8, possibly 10, years life left and, had BA and AF both wanted to continue, not only would the bare obligations have been honoured but they would have continued to assist as before. I assume the profits from supplying/supporting the Airbus fleets of both airlines would have been a factor in that.
Globaliser
You're right about the passenger loads/revenue when ops resumed post crash - a number of different factors, not all related to the crash. However, in stark contrast to AF, BA's Concorde fleet had previously consistently made a profit. Those in BA in a position to make an informed assessment were divided about whether BA could weather the fall in revenue. The decision was overtaken by events when AF pulled out, so we'll never know.