Jon, continued operation of the aircraft requires more than just ownership -
it needs the assistance of the manufacturers for technical/engineering
support. At the very least, that means spare parts availability. In
reality, I suspect it means a much greater range of resources to underpin
the airworthiness of Concorde. It is my understanding that BAE Systems
and/or Airbus were unwilling to commit scarce technical resources to a
flying museum piece (overstated for effect). So BA could deliver on its
undertaking to sell the aircraft, but that would not alter the commercial
decision by its manufacturers to cease technical support, and effectively
cause withdrawal of its certificate of airworthiness.
I always liked flying in the Vickers Viscount - a much better view than from
Concorde!
Piers
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Jon Mitchell
Sent: 15 October 2003 12:43
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [OM] OT photo ops
<snip>
--snip
When British Airways were given, yes that's GIVEN, the fleet of Concorde's
by the government (who paid for them), it was with the agreement that if
they were to stop the service then they MUST sell the fleet to any
interested party for the fee of 1GBP (yes ONE GBP !) for the purposes of
continuing the Concorde service. Now granted, the person buying the fleet
would have some very large costs to keep the service going, but a certain
enterprising individual here did actually make the bid. His reasoning being
that it would make good business sense, and keep a spectacular piece of
engineering in the air.
Why has this agreement between BA and the government been so swiftly swept
under the carpet and ignored ? I don't know, but given the way things have
been going with our current leadership over the last few years - frankly it
doesn't surprise me.
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