News
It was 50 years ago this month that the Concorde made its first flight in 1969. With a cruising speed of Mach 2.0, this airplane changed the way we did business, and remains my favorite commercial aircraft of all time. The key difference is productivity.
Analysis
The reason we fly is to get from point A to point B faster. Concorde was the fastest, and most productive way to cross the pond. Yes, it was not fuel efficient, nor environmentally friendly by today’s standards. Noise levels on takeoff were incredibly high, not to mention sonic booms when the aircraft broke the sound barrier. But it was productive.
I remember a three city day in which I had a breakfast meeting in Paris, left my Paris office at 0930, flew the Concorde to New York, landing at 0830, having a morning meeting through lunch in New York, then shuttling back to Boston for a 3:30pm meeting back at my Cambridge office. Productive? Absolutely! And impossible without the Concorde.
