The day before Thanksgiving 2003 will probably be best remembered — at least among the tony frequent-flier set — as the day the Concorde retired. Decades prior, in summer 1976, when the supersonic airliner first took to the skies, WWD was there with a two-page profile. The paper even sent its own Louise J. Esterhazy to report back on a flight from Washington to Paris — which took a mere three hours and 45 minutes.
“Fortunately, my young nephew, Janos Esterhazy, accompanied me because I had 12 bags,” she wrote, noting that before the two boarded the plane, they were advised to take off their coats. “When we were inside I understood why,” Esterhazy noted. “I told Janos it was like my early days in Hungary when we had flown on the DC-2 — cramped, military but certainly not stylish in decor.” Here, other Concorde comments from that August 6, 1976, story.
Countess Catherine de Vogue: “I find the seats very comfortable, but I think it might be different for someone with a grosse derriere…or for someone very tall.”
Ghislaine de Polignac: “With the Concorde there is no such thing as jet lag. I arrived in Caracas feeling fresh as a daisy.”
Oscar de la Renta: “It is a marvelous plane, but I found it a little uncomfortable. I was slightly claustrophobic but the leg space is good.”
Regine: “Once you have taken the Concorde, it is very difficult to think about going somewhere any other way.…The only complaint I have is during the half-hour fuel stop in Dakar on the South American routes, they come in and run the vacuum cleaner right under you.”