Air France Celebrates 50th Anniversary Of Concorde With Special Documentary

Air France has just released a special documentary, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the carrier’s Concorde. This is such an incredibly well done video, with amazing visuals and commentary.

“Concorde Air France: They Made the Legend Fly”

On January 21, 1976, Air France operated its first commercial flight with the Concorde, from Dakar to Rio de Janeiro. The airline is celebrating this milestone by releasing a documentary to commemorate the 50th anniversary.

The documentary is called “Concorde Air France: They Made the Legend Fly,” and it’s intended to serve as a historical reference, bringing together firsthand accounts from Air France employees who were involved in the success of the “Great White Bird.” Here’s how the airline describes the documentary:

Presented by Benjamin Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Air France-KLM and Chair of the Air France Board of Directors, this exceptional documentary offers nearly 40 minutes of immersion into the heart of the legendary aircraft, more than twenty years after it was retired from service. Filmed at the Air and Space Museum in Le Bourget, where the aircraft is on display, the film provides rare, up-close access, from its iconic cockpit, opened especially for the occasion, to the timeless elegance of its cabin designed by Andrée Putman. It offers a unique opportunity for viewers to go behind the scenes of this true aviation legend.

The documentary features interviews with five Air France employees who are still working today, representing key professions to Concorde’s operations: a pilot, two flight attendants, a mechanic and a Concorde lounge agent. Though their exclusive stories, anecdotes and personal photos, as well as rarely seen archival footage, they reveal the secrets and excellence of an iconic flight, from the airport lounge overlooking the aircraft to the prestigious experience on board.

A genuine technological showcase and masterpiece of innovation, the Concorde is a legendary aircraft that embodies Air France’s aeronautical prowess. This pivotal chapter in the airline’s history has left a lasting technological and cultural imprint. A symbol of Franco-British expertise and cooperation, it remains a defining element of Air France’s identity – a precious heritage and an endless source of inspiration that continue to shape innovation and the modern customer experience.

You can see a short teaser of the documentary below (which has no words, but instead, just focuses on nice visuals).

Then you can watch the documentary below. While it’s in French, you can turn on English subtitles.

I love how this documentary is presented by Ben Smith

I think it’s so cool that this video is presented by Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith, one of the airline CEOs I respect and like the most. While this isn’t a primary qualification to be an airline CEO, I think what I love most about Ben is his passion for airplanes. You couldn’t possibly meet a bigger aviation geek than him.

Sometimes you’ll talk to airline executives, and you realize that they don’t actually know the first thing about planes, and couldn’t tell two popular types of planes apart (which, just to be clear, isn’t a problem if they’re good at running an airline). Or you meet some airline executives who just can’t seem to get out of “CNBC mode,” as I call it, where they struggle to talk like humans, or to recite anything other than their earnings call talking points.

Meanwhile I remember the first time I met Ben (back in his Air Canada days), and he started rattling off aviation geek facts, including the key difference between the staircase of the 747-200 vs. 747-300 (I think that’s what it was, at least). It was the first time I had ever met a senior airline executive with that level of passion for the industry.

Looking at the comments on the YouTube video (translated from French), I see things like this:

Ben Smith shows genuine interest. Real curiosity. He’s not overacting like in a marketing film. A real discussion between enthusiasts.

This is 100% true. I guarantee you that Ben wanted to do this more than anything, and this isn’t your typical situation where a CEO is talked into doing something like this, and is bored and has no clue what they’re talking about.

Bottom line

Air France is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the Concorde, with a documentary showcasing what it was like to fly on the plane, the engineering that went into it, and the impact the plane had on the airline.

It’s nice to see an airline go such lengths to create a meaningful documentary about a plane, and it’s especially cool that it’s presented by Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith. I enjoyed watching it (even if it required reading subtitles, given that I don’t speak French), and I highly recommend over aviation geeks give it a watch as well!