Wheels that turn a full circle

Frontier Airlines is reportedly scrapping a barely two-year old A318. Yet, in the last week Airbus proudly announced the delivery of the 4000th A320 family member. The fanfare did not mention that a disappointing 68 of those 4000 aircraft are A318s, according to the Airbus website.

At least British Airways has not given up on the A318. The airline plans to launch a new A318 service from London City to New York on 29 September. BA has come up with a nice little marketing touch for the new service. They have decided to resurrect the old Concorde flight number "BA001". This sacrilege is the aviation equivalent of Britney Spears releasing "Yesterday" as a single.

There is one thing that British Airways will never be able to resurrect. And that, of course, is Concorde's speed. The A318 will chug its way over the Atlantic Ocean by way of a technical stop to take on fuel in Shannon. Plus ça change?