The Concorde... Airport '79

The Concorde... Airport '79

Company type	Film
Industry	Entertainment
Founded	1979
Founder	David Lowell Rich (director), Jennings Lang (producer)
Headquarters	United States
Key people	David Lowell Rich (director), George Kennedy (actor), Alain Delon (actor), Susan Blakely (actor), Robert Wagner (actor)
Products	Film
Number of employees	Ensemble cast including George Kennedy, Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, Mercedes McCambridge, Martha Raye

The Concorde... Airport '79 is a 1979 American aviation disaster movie and represents the fourth and concluding chapter of the Airport series. Although it did not fare well with North American audiences, the film achieved notable international box office success, earning $65 million against a production cost of $14 million.

Helmed by director David Lowell Rich, the movie stars an ensemble cast featuring George Kennedy, who appears in all four Airport productions, alongside principal actors Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, and Robert Wagner. Additional supporting performances include Mercedes McCambridge and Martha Raye.

Plot

Kevin Harrison, an unscrupulous arms trafficker, targets an American-operated Concorde during its inaugural flight after journalist Maggie Whelan exposes his illicit arms dealings with communist nations amid the Cold War tensions.

Departing from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris en route to Dulles International Airport, the Concorde narrowly evades environmental activists. Maggie intensifies her probe into Harrison’s Buzzard surface-to-air missile program following the murder of a source. Meanwhile, Harrison schemes to implicate others and aims to sabotage the Concorde using a hijacked attack drone.

Captains Joe Patroni and Paul Metrand, accompanied by flight engineer Peter O'Neill, take command of the Concorde. At check-in, Harrison confronts Maggie but remains unaware she has secured evidence exposing his criminal activities.

Mid-flight, an errant missile targets the Concorde but is intercepted and destroyed by USAF F-15 fighters. Subsequently, an F-4 Phantom II dispatched by Harrison assaults the aircraft but is shot down by French Mirage F1 jets after inflicting damage on the Concorde’s hydraulic systems. The impaired aircraft diverts to Paris–Le Bourget Airport, managing a precarious landing.

Harrison attempts to bribe Maggie into altering her report; upon her refusal, he plants a timed explosive device within the cargo door control mechanism. While flying toward Moscow, this device triggers decompression by forcing open the cargo door mid-air, damaging essential controls and compromising structural integrity.

With critical systems failing, the crew endeavors to make an emergency landing near Innsbruck but ultimately performs a belly landing on a snowy mountainside ski slope. All passengers are safely evacuated. After witnessing media coverage of the event, Harrison takes his own life. The plane explodes shortly after evacuation.

Production

Producer Jennings Lang invested several years obtaining authorization from Air France to feature the Concorde prominently in the film. The airline mandated modifications to both storyline and dialogue. Lang clarified that this movie was not intended as a direct sequel; it introduced new characters and settings while retaining George Kennedy’s character Joe Patroni, now elevated to pilot status. The mid-film catastrophic event involving the Concorde echoed elements of the 1974 Turkish Airlines Flight 981 disaster caused by explosive decompression due to cargo door failure, although it remains uncertain if this was deliberate inspiration.

Originally titled Airport '79 - the Concorde, Lang opted for renaming to prevent confusion with previous Airport entries. Universal Pictures announced that filming would commence in November 1978. Actress Susan Blakely joined under a three-film contract with Universal following her acclaimed role in Rich Man, Poor Man. Portions of filming took place in Alta, Utah, with production wrapping up by February 1979.

According to Sylvia Kristel’s memoirs, tensions arose during shooting: Alain Delon demanded a larger trailer and took over that assigned to director David Lowell Rich, who voiced complaints but received no support. Kristel also recounted that near the conclusion of filming, Rich exhibited overtly misogynistic behavior toward her, subjecting her to harsh treatment and requiring multiple retakes without justification.

Critical reception

The movie was met with largely unfavorable critiques, currently holding a 25% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from a total of eight reviews.

Vincent Canby of The New York Times characterized it as "not the finest entry in the series, but labeling it the worst misrepresents the situation. Here, the worst is actually the best." Variety described it as "certainly not aimed at connoisseurs" yet "a nostalgic nod to classic popcorn entertainment, and somewhat enjoyable," highlighting that unintended humor remains a defining trait of the franchise. Stu Goldstein from Boxoffice assigned it a "Poor" rating but admitted it was "so absurd that it becomes amusing." David Ansen of Newsweek noted its "unwavering commitment to High Silliness," commending its brisk pacing despite lacking credibility. Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune awarded one star, dismissing the plot as "ridiculous," while Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times criticized the artificial disaster scenario and unpersuasive peril faced by passengers. Gary Arnold at The Washington Post found it "almost as comical as The Big Bus, though unintentionally."

Critic Roger Ebert highlighted an implausible moment involving a flare gun in his book I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie. Additionally, the film is featured in Golden Raspberry Awards founder John Wilson's publication The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.

Box office

With a production budget of $14 million, the film grossed just over $13 million domestically in the US and Canada, marking an end to the profitable streak of the Airport series in those markets. Nonetheless, it achieved strong international results, earning $52 million abroad and totaling $65 million worldwide.

Aircraft history

The Concorde showcased in the film first took flight on January 31, 1975, bearing the registration F-WTSC under Aérospatiale. In 1976, it was re-registered as F-BTSC and leased to Air France. This particular aircraft notably transported Pope John Paul II in 1989.

On July 25, 2000, operating as Air France Flight 4590, F-BTSC crashed shortly after takeoff due to runway debris igniting a fuel tank fire, resulting in the deaths of all 109 individuals onboard and four people on the ground. At that point, it had accumulated 11,989 flight hours and completed 4,873 cycles.

Television premiere

For its television debut on ABC in May 1982, extra scenes were incorporated to extend its length for a three-hour broadcast slot.

See also

• Airport
• Airport 1975
• Airport '77
• Concorde Affaire '79
• SST: Death Flight, a 1977 TV movie also directed by David Lowell Rich