Concorde Retirement: Why the Supersonic Jet Stopped Flying

The US proposes lifting its 1973 ban on supersonic flight over land Supersonic revival

The Federal Aviation Administration published a proposed rule, “Enabling Supersonic Overland Flight”, that would repeal the speed-based ban in 14 CFR 91.817 and replace it with a noise limit: sonic-boom overpressure at the ground of no more than 0.11 pounds per square foot (Holland & Knight summary). Comments closed on 17 August 2026. The FAA calls it the first step of a multi-step process; a second rule on take-off and landing noise is still to come.

Concorde could never have met that limit. Its boom was the reason it flew supersonic almost only over the sea. The proposal is aimed at a new generation of quieter designs, and it is not yet law.

NASA’s X-59 flies supersonic, built to make a thump instead of a boom Supersonic revival

NASA’s X-59 went supersonic for the first time on 5 June 2026, reaching about Mach 1.1 at 43,400 feet (NASA), and on 12 June reached its planned test condition of Mach 1.4 at 55,000 feet (NASA). Its long, shaped nose is designed to spread out the shock waves so that people on the ground hear a soft thump rather than a boom.

NASA plans to fly it over US communities and survey residents. That data is meant to underpin a permanent noise standard, the thing Concorde never had.

A White House order tells the FAA to end the overland ban Supersonic revival

President Trump signed an executive order directing the FAA to repeal the prohibition on supersonic flight over US land and to set an interim noise-based standard (Federal Register). The July 2026 proposal above is the FAA’s response.

A French appeals court clears Continental of criminal blame for the crash Crash and courts

The appeals court overturned the 2010 manslaughter convictions of Continental Airlines and mechanic John Taylor, finding that the mechanic could not have foreseen the disaster. It kept the civil ruling that Continental must compensate Air France (NBC News / AP; Wikipedia). The investigators’ account of how the crash began was not overturned.

A Paris court convicts Continental over the metal strip Crash and courts

A criminal court found Continental Airlines and one of its mechanics guilty of involuntary manslaughter, because the titanium strip that started the accident had fallen from a Continental DC-10. The airline was fined €200,000 and ordered to pay Air France €1 million (Wikipedia). Several French officials connected with Concorde’s development were acquitted.

Concorde’s last ever flight lands at Filton Retirement

British Airways’ G-BOAF, the last Concorde built, flew from Heathrow to Filton near Bristol, where the British aircraft had been assembled and tested. It carried about 100 BA staff, and a crowd of more than 20,000 watched it land (Wikipedia: operational history). No Concorde has flown since.

British Airways flies its final passenger services Retirement

British Airways ended scheduled Concorde service with a staged finale: G-BOAG arrived from New York, G-BOAE from Edinburgh and G-BOAF from a round trip over the Bay of Biscay with invited guests. The three aircraft circled London and landed one after another at Heathrow (Wikipedia: operational history). The Smithsonian dates the end of commercial flights to this day, after 27 years of operation (Smithsonian).

Air France’s last Concorde flight Retirement

After its scheduled service ended, Air France flew F-BVFC to Toulouse, where Concorde had first flown, and retired it there (Wikipedia: operational history). The remaining French aircraft were delivered to museums in the following months.

Air France ends scheduled services Retirement

Air France’s final scheduled Concorde landed in New York on 30 May 2003 (Wikipedia: operational history), and the return flight on 31 May closed its scheduled operation. Reports from the time say Air France was filling barely a fifth of the seats on its Concordes before the retirement was announced (Heritage Concorde).

Both airlines announce Concorde will retire Retirement

British Airways and Air France announced on the same day that Concorde would leave service in 2003. BA said passenger revenue had fallen steadily while maintenance costs rose, and that the further maintenance programme could not be justified during a global downturn in premium travel (Los Angeles Times; Heritage Concorde). Airbus, which held responsibility for the type’s airworthiness support, was not willing to support the aircraft beyond October 2003; Heritage Concorde reports Airbus told BA it would need to spend about £40 million over the next few years to keep flying.

The next day Richard Branson said Virgin Atlantic wanted the aircraft, first for £1 each and later for much more; BA declined ({L(WOP, ‘Wikipedia: operational history’)}).

Investigators publish their final report on the crash Crash and courts

France’s accident investigation bureau, the BEA, published its final report on Flight 4590 on 16 January 2002, after a preliminary report in September 2000 and interim reports in December 2000 and July 2001 (BEA).

Concorde returns to commercial service Return to service

Both airlines resumed scheduled flights to New York on the same morning: Air France with F-BTSD from Paris and British Airways with G-BOAE from Heathrow (Wikipedia: operational history). The aircraft now had Kevlar-rubber liners in the fuel tanks, tougher Michelin tyres and changes to electrical wiring in the landing-gear bays (Wikipedia; Heritage Concorde).

It came back into a different market. The September 11 attacks two months earlier had cut transatlantic premium travel, the very business Concorde depended on.

Certificates restored, and a test flight lands as 9/11 unfolds Return to service

On 5 September 2001 the UK Civil Aviation Authority and France’s DGAC issued the directives that let modified aircraft fly passengers again. On 11 September, G-BOAF carried BA staff on a rehearsal flight and landed back at Heathrow at about 13:50 UK time, close to the moment the first hijacked aircraft hit the World Trade Center (Wikipedia: operational history).

The first modified Concorde flies Return to service

British Airways flew G-BOAF, the first aircraft fitted with the new fuel-tank liners, on a supersonic test flight out over the Atlantic towards Iceland and back to RAF Brize Norton, with Captain Mike Bannister in command (Wikipedia; Heritage Concorde).

Airworthiness certificates suspended Crash and courts

The British and French authorities suspended Concorde’s certificates of airworthiness while the accident was investigated and fixes were developed (FAA). Air France had stopped its own Concorde flights straight after the crash; British Airways had continued flying for about three weeks (Wikipedia).

Air France Flight 4590 crashes at Gonesse Crash and courts

Air France Flight 4590, a charter carrying mostly German passengers to New York to join a cruise, crashed into a hotel at Gonesse shortly after taking off from Paris Charles de Gaulle. All 100 passengers and nine crew died, along with four people on the ground: 113 in total (BEA).

Investigators found that a titanium strip that had fallen from a Continental Airlines DC-10 a few minutes earlier cut one of Concorde’s tyres. Tyre debris struck the wing, a pressure wave ruptured a fuel tank, the leaking fuel ignited, two engines lost thrust and the aircraft could not climb (Wikipedia; BEA). Concorde had a history of tyre and wheel incidents before 2000.

New York service finally begins In service

New York’s airport authority had blocked Concorde over noise. After the US Supreme Court refused on 17 October 1977 to overturn a ruling against the ban, scheduled London and Paris services to JFK began on 22 November (Wikipedia: operational history). New York became Concorde’s defining route.

Washington Dulles becomes the first US destination In service

With New York still closed, BA and Air France opened services to Washington Dulles (Wikipedia: operational history). Supersonic flight over US land had been banned in 1973, so all US routes depended on the ocean crossing.

First scheduled supersonic passenger flights In service

British Airways and Air France launched scheduled Concorde services simultaneously (Wikipedia; Smithsonian). Neither opening route was the transatlantic run that later made Concorde famous.

Airline orders melt away and the US bans overland booms Origins

Airlines including Pan Am had taken options on more than 70 Concordes. Most were cancelled around 1973, amid rising fuel prices, doubts about economics and noise restrictions (Wikipedia). The same year the US banned civil supersonic flight over land, the rule the FAA is now proposing to repeal. In the end only Air France and British Airways, then state-owned, flew Concorde in regular service (Smithsonian).

Concorde 001 makes its first flight Origins

The French prototype 001 took off from Toulouse, beginning the Anglo-French flight-test programme (Smithsonian). The British prototype 002 followed from Filton the next month, and 001 first went supersonic in October 1969 (Wikipedia).

Britain and France sign the Concorde treaty Origins

The two governments agreed to develop a supersonic airliner together. The treaty bound both countries to the project, which helped keep it alive through cost overruns (Wikipedia; Heritage Concorde).