Concorde, the iconic supersonic jet, operated commercially from 1976 to 2003, with only 20 aircraft ever built. It flew at altitudes up to 60,000 feet where outside air temperatures plunged to minus 60°C. The aircraft cruised at Mach 2.02, equivalent to around 1,350 mph, faster than a rifle bullet.
British Airways employed just one female pilot, Barbara Harmer, who flew Concorde from 1993 to 2003 after starting her career as a hairdresser and air traffic controller. The flight crew consisted of a captain, first officer, and flight engineer, with six cabin crew serving 100 passengers in a single-class configuration with 38-inch seat pitch.
Concorde’s fuel efficiency was low: it flew 48 miles per ton of fuel, compared to nearly 200 miles for the Airbus A350. Its wingspan was 84 feet, and take-off speed was 250 mph. The maximum range was 4,500 miles, though the London-Barbados route often required a refuelling stop at Shannon or Lisbon.
The fastest New York JFK-London Heathrow flight took 173 minutes on 7 February 1996, almost half the time of a modern subsonic flight. The initial return fare from London to Washington DC was £431 in 1976, rising to £9,179 for a London-New York return shortly before grounding.
The Air France crash on 25 July 2000 killed 113 people, including four on the ground. Despite an initial forecast of 350 sales, only British Airways and Air France purchased Concorde, ordering seven each. The aircraft remains a symbol of supersonic travel.
