Can 'son of Concorde' succeed?

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Six years after grounding the supersonic jet, British Airways is bringing back the call-sign "Speedbird One" for its flagship jet from London City to New York. But unlike those planes, this is a small aircraft with big ambitions: to fly 32 high-achieving individuals 3,500 miles from the doorstep of the City of London's nearest airport to New York JFK. "Taxpayer-owned banks won't want to be seen paying over £4,000 for a slow, stopping BA flight to New York when they can pay less and get there quicker with Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow." Burning questions As BA pilots burned fuel practising "circuits and bumps" at London City airport last Tuesday, their boss, Willie Walsh, was telling a United Nations forum in New York that "The forthcoming Copenhagen summit represents a historic opportunity for aviation to join the mainstream of the world's efforts to combat climate change".