"B S D Chapman" mail-at-benchapman-dot-co-dot-uk wrote in message
news
I was one of the folk that phoned up for discounted tickets, but couldn't
afford the full price fare.

It's not the done thing to say "me too" on here, is it? :-)

I would have done so -
eventually. It might have been another two or three years down the
road... it could have been ten. But I was most upset that I have had the
chance to do so refused.

Yup...

The sad fact is that Concorde was viable had the Americans not shunned Air
France (the reason they stopped flying straight away), and if the fear of
flying following 9/11 haddn't dissuaded the new "replacement" executives
from becomming the replacement regulars.

The regulars had kept her ticking over while the dreamers could have their
once-in-a-lifetime chance.

There was a programme on TV about this. 40 of Concorde's regular
passengers were killed in the WTC. Not only were these the regular
passengers, they were also the people (along with others) who had the
authority to sign off travel for lesser executives on Concorde. With them
gone, Concorde's passenger load was around 50%. They needed about
70% to break even. It was also in a period of recession in the economy in
general and in air travel particularly. Keep them another couple of years
and passenger numbers would probably have gone up again.

Paul