And remember that BA makes about $1200 from each award on the Concorde, for a seat that otherwise would go empty. As long as loads are averaging 50%, which appears to be our observational measurement based on those here who have flown since the resumption of service, I cannot see any reason for BA [or QF] to eliminate access to this award.
While we know business travel drops in the summer, BA has a half-dozen different promotions to get people onto the Concorde from just about every NAmerican and European country. These generally involve a J-class one way, Concorde the other for less than the normal full fare J fare. About every bucket shop in London is advertising return Concorde this summer for around L2500. This discounting is necessary to fill Concorde seats since there is a limited hard core clientel of the "rich and famous".
[AF faces the same dilemma and has its own discounting going on to fill its daily flight between CDG and JFK.]
Though BA has loaded a second daily flight into the res system for the fall/winter schedule, it may not actually fly if loads on the current daily service does not hit 70%+. A major problem BA faces is that while Concorde makes sense going westward to the US -- one has a full day on the American side of the ocean to either work or continue onward travel -- the eastward trip is not very convenient [which is why I suspect they are playing around with different departure times through June].
Eastward, one loses a whole day, leaving NYC in the early morning or noontime, and getting into LON early or mid-evening. Not only does the regular 8:30am departure make connections from most US cities impractical if not impossible -- since JFK is not served well by domestic flights [which tend to go into LGA and EWR] -- the late arrival into LHR similarly limits onward connections to Europe and elsewhere [though BA does have a couple of late evening flights to TEL, JNB, CPT, SYD and SIN, these are not workable with the current 12:20p JFK departure].
I suspect most top execs who fly Concorde might take the westbound flight in the morning, reach NYC in time for a full day of meetings, then opt for BA First eastbound, benefiting from a night's sleep in a sleeper/bed seat, a freshing up at the Arrivals Lounge, and then off to meetings in the city.
With curfews in effect at LHR, the latest a Concorde can get in would be just before 11pm, which is a little later than the current noon hour departure permits. The late JFK departure used to be 1:45p, which permits at least a full morning of meetings, or connections from some midwest and east coast flights.
But as oz noted, anything is possible which is why those of us who have done the trip on a QF award, did it as soon as we could, just in case.
[This message has been edited by Shareholder (edited 06-22-2002).]