Re: Virgin Atlantic & Concorde?!?

[Cabin Pressure89]

Hey!

What are your views on concorde and Virgin

Do you think Richard B will get them?

Will they look good in RED??? Umm???

I dont think he will get them!:confused:

Just a Thought!

[Hand Solo]

There's about 250 replies to this subject already in Rumours and News, plus about 40 on a similar thread in a different forum. But to answer your questions:

1) Not a hope in hell.

2) No, because apparently they have to be painted white for skin heat radiation purposes!

[ETOPS773]

I think Concorde is going to be the last thing Ricky B will be thinking of if the story is correct..a BA assimilation!

[pilotwolf]

Perhaps thats why RB wants to take over BA...

...all the aircraft - including Concorde - would come with the company....

:rolleyes:

[Sick Squid]

I think it is safe to say that RB will not get his hands on Concorde. For a start, there is no obligation on the part of BA to sell them as is being claimed. However, the single most important fact is that Concorde is not an airliner like other airliiners. You simply could not buy a few hulls, chuck a few pilots through conversions, train up a handful of engineers and run an operation around that as you could with a standard Boeing or Airbus. You would not keep one in the air for more than five minutes. It really does require a dedicated and experienced TEAM behind it, in much the same way as military aircraft do, and I would include an experienced mangement team in that equation.

I would also go so far as to hazard that no insurer on the planet would touch a Concorde operation without the experience of operation that BA or Air France has behind it in place... and how to get that short of an airline buyout, or a wet-lease? Neither BA nor AF will wet-lease, I could retire on that if someone would give me odds. Buyout is possible, but just for a Concorde operation? Hmm.. I have a vague idea of the economics involved working as I do for one of the operators, and that is VERY unlikely.. for a start, there is the massive airframe maintenance programme required just around the corner that most people conveniently forget (I don't have the company newsletter to hand so can't elucidate more) but that will be a cost of around £80m as I recall. A big ask for the bottom line of an aircraft that is hard to break even with at the best of times.


So romantic as it is, it is extremely unlikely. Romance unfortunately has no place in the real world of aviation.. if it did, we would be marvelling now at how long the XB70 Valkyrie had been plying its Mach 3 trade along side the SR71.. I wish it were different, I really do.... after all, I did bid for a Concorde command last year.... only missed it by 1000 places!

:D

Squid