The British-French supersonic Concorde has so far survived difficulties that could easily have wrecked a less prestigious project. The airliner's development cost has soared in four years from $790 million to $1.73 billion, and technical problems have already forced postponement of its maiden flight from last February to September at the earliest. Last week the expensive settlement terms of France's spate of strikes raised new doubts about the Concorde's future.
With French workers winning wage increases averaging 15% this year aviation men estimated that the plane's $20 million price tag will climb by another $700,000—perhaps more. "The increase in French...
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