The Concorde Saga
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Case Code: BSTR084 Case Length: 13 Pages Period: 1976 - 2003 Pub Date: 2004 Teaching Note: Available |
Price: Rs.400 Organization: British Airways, Air France Industry: Airlines, Countries : France, UK Themes: Differentiation |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts
Abstract
A technical marvel, the Concorde was the only aircraft offering commercial supersonic travel to passengers. Designed and built in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Concorde represented the dream of traveling faster than the speed of sound. The Concorde project was a collaboration between the governments of Britain and France and was launched with the expectation of revolutionizing air travel. In the initial stages, the project generated a lot of interest and Concorde received purchase orders from 16 major airlines by the late 1960s. However, as the drawbacks of flying these aircraft began to come to the fore, especially after the fuel crisis of the 1970s, most of the airlines backed away. Eventually, British Airways and Air France were the only airlines operating Concordes.
In 2003, British Airways and Air France decided to discontinue Concorde services and retire their fleet to aviation museums around the world. This decision was taken because of several problems that the airlines experienced in flying Concordes including, high noise levels, excessive fuel consumption, the advancing age of the fleet, safety issues (especially after an Air France Concorde crashed in 2000) and the declaration of maintenance partner Airbus that it would not support Concorde operations after October 2003. On 24th October 2003, the last Concorde flight landed at Heathrow, drawing to an end an era of supersonic aviation. The case examines the reasons for Concorde's inability to succeed at a commercial level, despite its technical superiority and discusses the important elements which determine the success of aircraft.
Issues
The case is structured to achieve the following teaching objectives:
- To understand the operation of a one-of-a-kind aircraft, that was technically superior to any other comparable product of its time
- To examine the relationship between technical excellence and commercial success and how the presence of the former does not automatically guarantee the latter
Contents
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The End of the Supersonic Era
Background
The Concorde Experience
The Problems With Concorde
The Crash and its Fallouts
Conclusion
Exhibits
Keywords
Concorde, aircraft, commercial, supersonic, 1960, 1970, faster, speed of sound, collaboration, governments of Britain, France, revolutionizing, air travel, interest, Concorde, purchase orders, 16, major airlines, fuel crisis, 1970s, British Airways, Air France
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