So the question is: Are Concordes commercial? I think there are two answers to that question for an manufacturer's perspective clearly not. Squillions to develop and a production run of 14 a/c which were sold for a very small price indeed...No chance. Its worth remembering though that it took big B from '69 till sometime in the mid to late '80s and several hundred airframes to cover the development costs of the '47 (the early design of which was for a USAF strategic heavy lift a/c contract - which they lost to Lockheed (C5) - was subsidised by Uncle.
From the airline perspective quite a different kettle of fish according to BA the type contributes a lot of revenue to its bottom line and they consider it a money maker. (All to do with securing lucrative business travel accounts from big corporations by offering so many Conc seats per xx biz class tickets bought or something like that) Certainly the grounding cost them a a lot in this competitive arena. And Big Airways have invested a significant wodge of cash in the mods to get the fleet back in the air.
I reckon them both to be jolly significant '47 for the social change it engendered - and it's longevity of production - 33 years and counting -
A Concs for being the sexiest airliner in the sky
Ref the website - Cy Attle's
PR Kool aid kid
PR types tend to get carried away from time to time its the rain you see