Margo on the Gone...to Europe on the Concorde 1990

Best of the best on Concorde

Crossword puzzle clue, three letter word:

JFK Arrival.

Sight at Dulles.

A fast one.

It will get you there PDQ.

Its business is booming.

The answer is SST. I know about the supersonic travel, because I’ve flown on Concorde (not a typo, there is no ‘the’).

For our 10^th anniversary in May, 1990, Darr and I took Concorde to London. For free. Because Darr had enough American Airlines miles to get two roundtrip tickets with the partner airline British Air which flew Concorde out of Dulles three times a week. Other passengers had to pay $6,000 a seat ($11,679 in today’s dollars).  Darr traveled constantly in the early years at USA Today and was accumulating thousands of miles. He had his eyes on the prize of a flight on Concorde and once he surpassed 250,000 miles we had enough. 

Concorde exceeded all expectations. Concorde was the gift that kept on giving, and giving. When we arrived at Dulles we were whisked into a special lounge, where we were plied with champagne and hors d’oeuvres, I was presented with a corsage, and we were given seven British newspapers.

Concorde  parting gift

The Concorde Menu

The Concorde Cellar

 

On board we received fruit and cheese and drinks and chocolate and salads and quail and caviar, lots of legroom, an on-time departure and a smooth flight. And for our parting gift, we were given a set of Cross pens!

Twice the speed of sound

As Darr was walking down the jetway, he described it as an E-Ticket ride.  Darr loved everything aviation, and I was a fearful flyer. When we went into mach 2.04 supersonic speed, which was displayed, he was thrilled, and I was wondering what would become of me. That meant we were going 1,354 miles an hour. I was primarily thrilled about the fact that the flight was only three hours and 40 minutes long instead of 7.  But the time savings were the biggest attraction of Concorde to business travelers. Instead of the usual red eye that leaves you as beat up as your bangers and mashed breakfast, you can fly during the day and arrive fresh for cocktails, and dinner.

Concorde Captain McMahon

 

We were also invited into the cockpit to meet the captain and crew and have our certificates signed. The ultimate desensitization for the fearful flyer, I decided to fess up about my nervousness. The captain said “So you generally don’t like to fly?” I said “No.” He said “Well I don’t blame you, I’m a bit sick of it myself.” British wit, better than medication.

I am certified as having flown supersonically

There were only 14 Concordes in existence, half owned by British Air and half by Air France.  In 2003, just 13 years after our flight Concordes were retired; clues now read:

Retired flier.

Bygone flier.

Former JFK lander.

Retired boomer.

Speaking of retired boomers, here's one now: 

Darr describes Concorde service as "first class plus plus"

Getting the return flight on Concorde was beset by problems. The day we were supposed to fly back from Paris (Paris trip blog coming in the next installment of Margo on the Gone), the air traffic controllers decided to go on strike. Boo hoo we had to spend an extra night in Paris.  The next day there were dense crowds and long waits at the airport. But once Darr got the attention of British Air that we were Concorde passengers, red carpets were rolled out. Darr had to get back to work quickly because Gorbachov was coming to town and Concorde wasn't flying out of Paris to Dulles for another three days. So British Air offered to fly us to London where we could catch Concorde to New York the next day. We were put up in luxurious style in London. And when we landed at JFK they offered us a helicopter ride to midtown so we would be closer to Penn Station. I regret to say I had to pass on that. As super and sonic as it all was, my feet were very happy to be on the ground.