Claude MONPOINT has left us.

There is some news that we do not like to transmit and in particular this one.

Claude MONPOINT left at the end of January in complete discretion.

Concorde's first Chief Flight Attendant passed away on January 31 at the age of 93, after a life dedicated to aviation and in particular to Concorde.

Here he is on board the SA during one of his first flights preparing for the rest of the trip.

Photo collection AAMD (DR)

Two articles talking about Claude MONPOINT.

The first by his friends at APCOS on their site:

 https://www.concordereference.fr/claude-monpoint/

And the second his own presentation in the Mach 2 magazine:

https://www.concordereference.fr/claude-monpoint/REVUE N°35 (concordereference.fr)

Here we can only talk about our brief meeting with Mr. MONPOINT.

Of course we have often heard about him but we only really got to know him during the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the arrival of the SA at the Delta Museum.

To produce our book “The Life of the SA” before this event we requested authorization from APCOS to reproduce part of their publication cited above, and beforehand we contacted Mr. MONPOINT to invite him to our celebration , and to ask him what part of his article we could publish…

His reaction was immediate: “I accept with great pleasure your invitation… but I do not want you to publish my text in part…” 

Of course the message was heard and the entire text is now in our book.

Here is a small mosaic of images from our first meeting to introduce you to the man who organized all the SA flights and whom he came to see again on this occasion.

What can I say about this day; elegance, benevolence, kindness, tenderness and friendship.

A presentation of his career on board the SA was greatly appreciated and all questions received a clear and documented answer; those who attended his conference on board the SA came back delighted.

https://www.leparisien.fr/essonne-91/essonne-les-fans-du-concorde-de-la-n-7-ont-survole-plus-de-40-ans-d-histoire-22-04-2018-7678134.php

A kind, charming and mischievous man.

The day flew by at supersonic speed...

Subsequently we remained in telephone contact very regularly and of course our new invitation at the end of September 2023 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first WASHINGTON/ORLY crossing.

His response was immediate:

“I can’t miss this event; I will do everything possible to come”

And now here is our second meeting with Claude.

When he arrived at Montparnasse station his first question was:

“Will I still have the pleasure like last time of dining with your charming wife in this great Indian restaurant?”

The evening was wonderful, we will keep Mifa and I forever in our memory.

At one point he took us aside and asked us to call him “Claude” like all his friends, which we took to be a huge mark of friendship.

The next morning he arrived dressed to the nines.

Also at ease with our Mayor, our deputy, friend Julian and Miss Jeunesse Aquitaine.

But what could Nicole MENEVEUX and Claude talk about in front of Concorde???

During the day our friends from DiViPassion took advantage of the few moments of tranquillity to interview our guests and in particular Claude who participated in this first transatlantic flight aboard the SA between Washington and Orly on September 26, 1973.

You can watch this report using one of the two links below:

50ème anniversaire du 1er vol du Concorde - 02 au Musée Delta (youtube.com)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_AB9MlYWdk&ab_channel=AssosDiViPassion

As he explained in all his conferences, the SA was his favourite plane for which he invested his all and subsequently all Concorde passengers without knowing it were able to benefit from his know-how and his organization which began on our plane 50 years earlier.

A day that went by way too quickly...

Claude will forever keep his place in the SA and in our memories.

Marie France « Mifa » and Alexandre

Sur le site de Philippe BORENTIN vous pouvez retrouver tous les vols effectués par Claude.

On Philippe BORENTIN's website you can find all the flights carried out by Claude.

http://lesvolsdeconcorde.com/Concorde/EqFicPerso/VAsAALzx1MxTZ3JyRFBSUHBMAAA?A42

Here we have selected the 50 flights carried out on the SA.

F - WTSA	74	18/09/1973	Paris Orly	Las Palmas	Ferry
F - WTSA	75	18/09/1973	Las Palmas	Caracas	Ferry
F - WTSA	76	20/09/1973	Caracas	Dallas	Ferry
F - WTSA	77	21/09/1973	Dallas	Dallas	Demonstration
F - WTSA	78	21/09/1973	Dallas	Dallas	Demonstration
F - WTSA	79	22/09/1973	Dallas	Dallas	Demonstration
F - WTSA	80	23/09/1973	Dallas	Washington	Ferry
F - WTSA	81	26/09/1973	Washington	Paris Orly	Ferry
F - WTSA	108	07/02/1974	Toulouse	Keflavik	Ferry
F - WTSA	109	07/02/1974	Keflavik	Fairbanks	Ferry
F - WTSA	110	13/02/1974	Fairbanks	Fairbanks	Test
F - WTSA	111	13/02/1974	Fairbanks	Fairbanks	Test
F - WTSA	112	15/02/1974	Fairbanks	Anchorage	Test
F - WTSA	113	15/02/1974	Anchorage	Fairbanks	Test
F - WTSA	114	15/02/1974	Anchorage	Anchorage	Demonstration
F - WTSA	115	19/02/1974	Fairbanks	Keflavik	Convoyage
F - WTSA	116	19/02/1974	Keflavik	Toulouse	Convoyage
F - WTSA	118	25/03/1974	Toulouse	Bordeaux	Convoyage
F - WTSA	119	25/03/1974	Bordeaux	Marseille	Demonstration
F - WTSA	120	25/03/1974	Marseille	Toulouse	Ferry
F - WTSA	138	27/05/1974	Paris Charles de Gaulle	Dakar	Endurance
F - WTSA	139	27/05/1974	Dakar	Rio de Janeiro Galéo	Endurance
F - WTSA	140	28/05/1974	Rio de Janeiro Galéo	Dakar	Endurance
F - WTSA	141	28/05/1974	Dakar	Paris Charles de Gaulle	Endurance
F - WTSA	146	31/05/1974	Paris Charles de Gaulle	Dakar	Endurance
F - WTSA	147	31/05/1974	Dakar	Rio de Janeiro Galéo	Endurance
F - WTSA	148	01/06/1974	Rio de Janeiro Galéo	Dakar	Endurance
F - WTSA	149	01/06/1974	Dakar	Paris Charles de Gaulle	Endurance
F - WTSA	161	13/06/1974	Paris Charles de Gaulle	Boston	Demonstration
F - WTSA	162	14/06/1974	Boston	Miami	Ferry
F - WTSA	163	14/06/1974	Miami	Boston	Ferry
F - WTSA	164	17/06/1974	Boston	Paris Charles de Gaulle	Ferry
F - WTSA	165	17/06/1974	Paris Charles de Gaulle	Boston	Demonstration
F - WTSA	166	18/06/1974	Boston	Paris Charles de Gaulle	Demonstration
F - WTSA	176	29/06/1974	Toulouse	Istres	Demonstration
F - WTSA	177	29/06/1974	Istres	Téhéran	Ferry
F - WTSA	188	19/10/1974	Toulouse	London Heathrow	Ferry
F - WTSA	189	20/10/1974	London Heathrow	Gander	Ferry
F - WTSA	190	20/10/1974	Gander	Mexico	Ferry
F - WTSA	191	21/10/1974	Mexico	San Francisco	Test
F - WTSA	192	23/10/1974	San Francisco	Anchorage	Test
F - WTSA	193	23/10/1974	Anchorage	Los Angeles	Test
F - WTSA	194	25/10/1974	Los Angeles	Acapulco	Test
F - WTSA	195	25/10/1974	Acapulco	Lima	Demonstration
F - WTSA	196	26/10/1974	Lima	Bogota	Convoyage
F - WTSA	197	26/10/1974	Bogota	Lima	Convoyage
F - WTSA	198	28/10/1974	Lima	Caracas	Convoyage
F - WTSA	199	28/10/1974	Caracas	Las Palmas	Demonstration
F - WTSA	200	28/10/1974	Las Palmas	Paris Charles de Gaulle	Ferry
F - WTSA	297	06/10/1975	Montréal Mirabel	Paris Charles de Gaulle	Endurance