POSTED ON 15/02/06
AEROSPACE
Bombardier still sees hope for new jet
Aircraft maker posts 2.4-per-cent increase in annual deliveries
BERTRAND MAROTTE
MONTREAL -- Bombardier Inc. is still keen on the potential for a new jet in the upper end of the regional jet market, with the possible revival of the iced C Series as soon as next year, company officials say.
Montreal-based Bombardier, the world's third largest maker of commercial aircraft, continues to "look at new opportunities in the upper end of the regional aircraft market," Pierre Beaudoin, head of the aerospace division, said after the company posted a 2.4-per-cent increase in its aircraft deliveries in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2006.
Bombardier spokesman John Paul Macdonald said the company may be in a position as early as next year to bring back its 110- to 130-seat passenger jet -- known as the C Series -- as key potential customers, such as Northwest Airlines Corp., emerge from bankruptcy protection and seek to replace their aging planes.
At the end of last month, when Bombardier shelved its $2.1-billion (U.S.) C Series project for lack of launch customers, Mr. Beaudoin said the company will spend about $20-million on a downsized C Series program this year and then decide by the end of the year whether to continue or kill the new jet idea.
Bombardier is exploring other options, like a stretched version of its 86-seat CRJ900 and a bigger turboprop in the Q series.
"We are harvesting the fruit of many years of investment in the development of innovative aircraft platforms," Mr. Beaudoin, president and chief operating officer of Bombardier Aerospace, said in a statement. "We are the leader in the 20- to 90-seat segment and continue to look at new opportunities in the upper end of the regional aircraft market."
The C Series jet had been in the works for two years and cost the company -- which is struggling with a prolonged downturn in the U.S. airline industry -- more than $100-million so far.
The founding Bombardier family, led by chairman and chief executive officer Laurent Beaudoin, had pinned its hopes on the C Series leading it once again into the forefront of the market, where it has been losing ground to Brazilian archrival Embraer SA.
Yesterday, Bombardier said it delivered 337 aircraft in fiscal 2006, up slightly from 329 deliveries the previous year. In the business segment, it delivered 186 aircraft, a 45-per-cent increase from 128 deliveries.
Bombardier's business jets range from the tiny Learjet 40 to the long-range Bombardier Global 5000.
The company said 90 of the business aircraft delivered in fiscal 2006 were from its latest line of models: Global Express XRS, Global 5000, Challenger 300 and Learjet 40 XR.
Those results were offset by a drop in regional jet deliveries -- to 149 from 200 the previous year.
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