Ep.162 – Concorde with Mike Bannister

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Mike Bannister joins us to talk about Concorde and his career flying the supersonic airliner. He became the youngest pilot on the Concorde fleet in 1977, was appointed the airline’s Chief Concorde Pilot in 1995 and regularly flew as Captain on all of the aircraft’s routes worldwide.

Concorde F-BVFA taxis to its final home, the National Air and Space Museum (c) Smithsonian

He was at the controls when the British Airways’ Supersonic Flagship returned to service in November 2001, and commanded and flew the final Concorde commercial flight from New York to London on October 24th 2004. By the time Concorde retired Mike had amassed over 9,200 Concorde flight hours – around 6,900 at supersonic speeds. For over 10 years he was extensively involved as an expert witness and lead technical advisor in the ‘Air France Concorde Trial.’

Concorde’s final flight arrives in London in 2003, Captained by Mike Bannister (right)

Mike’s book ‘Concorde: The thrilling account of history’s most extraordinary airliner’ is available through our bookstore https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11161/9780241557006

Recorded 19^th December 2022

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