Following a year and a half of congressional fighting about environmental (emissions and fuel consumption) and noise concerns, the FAA began allowing British Airways and Air France permission to land their Concorde SST (Super Sonic Transport) in the U.S. in 1977. The appeal was that the Concorde could fly at Mach 2, reducing transatlantic flight times to two and a half hours.

In March 1985, British Airways landed the SST at Tampa International Airport. Even though it was supersonic, it arrived an hour and a half late. It was full of VIPs and not for use by the general public. It was a stunt to promote the airline's new 747 service to London, providing direct flights from TIA and London’s Heathrow Airport. Thousands of people lined the edge of the airport’s parking garage to watch the 203-foot-long aircraft land. Plans were never made for regular flights from Tampa.

In 1986, Americans were reluctant to travel to Europe following terrorist activity. British Airways developed a promotional giveaway for free flights called “Go For It America,” where winners could choose between having the supersonic aircraft all to themselves (and anyone they invited) for 8 hours or receive unlimited travel for one person for 5 years. Anyone could enter the contest by filling out a form found in many newspapers around the state. The Florida State Department licensing division issued a fine to British Airways for failing to register contest rules and prizes 30 days before starting, saying that the contest amounted to an unsanctioned lottery. The state soon dropped the charges. In 1987, a Bay Area man won! William Saunders of Lutz won the drawing, taking his daughter, Karen Aygood, and 98 friends for a “Sweet 16” flight from Tampa to Bridgeport, Barbados. After some back and forth on who would pay the $20,000 in taxes for the flight, the airline worked it out. On the day of their trip, several media outlets sent crews to interview the family before their flight.

Flying the Concorde became a status symbol, with tickets costing as much as $10,000. Jetsetters and celebrities touted their flight times. In 1996, a British Airways Concorde set the fastest New York to London flight record: 2 hours, 52 minutes, 59 seconds. Tragically, on July 25, 2000, an Air France Concorde crashed shortly after takeoff from Paris, killing all 109 passengers and crew and four people on the ground. The disaster was caused by debris on the runway that sent chunks of a tire into a fuel tank, puncturing it.

The crash, the decline of post-9/11 air travel, and high maintenance costs made the SST’s operation unsustainable. On April 10, 2003, British Airways and Air France announced Concorde’s retirement.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved