Legal and Enviromental Ramifications of the Concorde
![handle is hein.journals/jalc42 and id is 453 raw text is: LEGAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RAMIFICATIONS
OF THE CONCORDE
ROBERT M. ALLEN
On August 29, 1975, and September 21, 1975, respectively,
British Airways and Air France applied to the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA)1 for amendment of their respective opera-
tions specifications. Usually, approvals of requested amendments
to operating specifications are automatic, since they typically in-
volve aircraft that were produced in the United States and certifi-
cated by the FAA, or aircraft that, although produced in a foreign
country and certified by that country's counterpart to the FAA,
were substantially the same as aircraft already in service in this
country.
These requests for amendments,' however, stirred up a contro-
versy that promises to be far-reaching and long-lasting-the re-
quest was for approval of Concorde, and was the first commercial
passenger application of the supersonic aviation technology.
Although these requests for amendments have been cleared by
the Secretary of Transportation, his approval spans only a sixteen-
month trial period. The Secretary directed the FAA to issue the
provisional amendments on March 4, 1976,' subject to the follow-
149 U.S.C. $ 1372(f) (1970).
1 Operating specifications include a list of the type of aircraft to be flown,
the routes and flight procedures to be followed, and the airports to be served.
An application for operations specifications or for amendments thereto must be
approved by the FAA before a foreign carrier may begin commercial service to
the United States. See 14 CF.R. § 129 (1976).
3 British Airways and Air France were requesting, respectively, authority for
one daily flight each into Dulles International Airport (Dulles) outside of Wash-
ington, D. C. and two daily flights each into John F. Kennedy International Air-
port (JFK) on Long Island, New York.
Newsweek, February 2, 1976 at 46. The U.S.S.R.'s TU-144, another super-
sonic transport began mail and cargo service between Moscow and Alma-Ata in
January 1976.
5 Department of Transportation, The Secretary's Decision on Concorde Super-
sonic Transport, February 4, 1976 at 3 [hereinafter cited as Secretary's Decision].
A sixteen-month period was selected to allow twelve months for data collection
on the effects of Concorde and four months for analysis.
'The FAA issued the approved amendment to the operation specifications on
April 20, 1976. Aviation Daily, April 20, 1976, at 293.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jalc42&div=28&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Legal and Enviromental Ramifications of the Concorde
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