Bombardier in talks to sell CRJ to Mitsubishi, exit commercial jet business

[futurama]

"Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., which is building Japan’s first airliner since the 1960s, is in talks to buy Bombardier Inc.’s CRJ regional jet program to bolster its plane manufacturing ambitions. ... Bombardier confirmed that it was in discussions with Mitsubishi and that any agreement would be subject to further analysis by its own management and due diligence by the Japanese company. The Montreal-based company, the second-largest maker of regional jets, said there was no assurance that a deal would be reached. ...

For Bombardier a deal would mark the end of an era as it would involve the company’s last remaining commercial-aviation asset."

Bloomberg News (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-05/mitsubishi-in-talks-to-buy-bombardier-s-crj-air-current-says)

The CSeries nightmare might finally be over for Bombardier, but at the cost of its entire commercial aviation business.

[FIRESYSOK]

When at first you don’t succeed, buy the competition.

Frightening!

[Sam Asama]

For the Canadian taxpayer, Bombardier continuing to build any sort of transportation vehicles (rail or aviation) is much more frightening than selling off the business.

[DakLak]

At least the snow machine business (Ski-Doo) is still making money.

[BeechNut]

At least the snow machine business (Ski-Doo) is still making money.

Bombardier sold that off ages ago. It is now known as BRP.

[futurama]

So reportedly Mitsubishi only wants to buy Bombardier's supplier & service network, not the whole CRJ program -- which is after all losing money. Bombardier is currently losing roughly $2 million for each CRJ sold.

Of course it's not in Bombardier's best interest to be left holding the bag, so expect tough negotiations from both sides. I predict Mitsubishi will get a good deal and Bombardier will be happy to finally exit the commercial aviation business.

In other news, Mitsubishi will be rebranding the MRJ as SpaceJet (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-13/meet-spacejet-mitsubishi-s-newly-renamed-regional-airliner) and will introduce a new 76-seat variant SpaceJet M100, based on a stretched M70 and designed to fit within scope clause restrictions.

[Water pilot]

I wonder how long it will be before we see an American firm exit the commercial aviation business.

[Global Aviator]

How does the Mitsubishi stack up against what’s currently being built?

It seems to becoming a busy market in the mid regional jet market.

What happened with the Sukhoi?

[DakLak]

Bombardier sold that off ages ago. It is now known as BRP.

BRP - Bombardier Recreational Products - brp.com - was sold off in 2003. The Bombardier family hold 35%, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has / had 15% and the rest by some other group.

However, the transportation division still supplies specialist snow transport to elements of the military and commercial projects. I was thinking of these vehicles which cost a pretty Penny / Cent.

[Teddy engineer]

Are Mitsubishi also looking to acquire the Challenger Business Jet too? My understanding is that the CRJ airliner and the Challenger business jet, from which the CRJ is derived, are all part of the same Type Certificate, in which case its not possible to separate the two from each other. Viking had been interested in building Dash 8-100, 200 and 300s for a while but could not do so while Bombardier retained the Q400 for the same reason.

[atakacs]

That's a good question. I guess the only way is an "all or nothing" deal.

Bit sad to see the Bombardier conglomerate being dismantled piece by piece.

[CaptainProp]

Only Challenger 850 (CRJ200) in that case. Challenger 604/605/650 and 300/350 are not same as CRJ line.

CP

[DaveReidUK]

Challenger 604/605/650 and 300/350 are not same as CRJ line.

Yes, but as the previous poster alluded to, the Challenger 604/605 (I have no idea what a 650 is, presumably a marketing designation) and all the CRJ variants share the same Type Certificate.

The Challenger 300/350 is a different aircraft.

[CaptainProp]

Well when you say “type certificate” are you talking about pilots training / type certification or is that from an engineering / airworthiness type point of view?

Interesting, I had to read up a bit on this and I was surprised to see that the CRJ series aircraft are developed based on the CL-600-2B16 as far as certification goes. I always thought the CRJ-100 was an entirely different aircraft that then became the base for developing the other CRJ series aircraft.

As far as pilots certification / endorsement goes its different for these types.

CRJ series is endorsed as CL65 on your license, CL604/605 and 650 (this is the new version of 605) as CL604/605.

https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/dfu/09052019%20EASA% (https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/dfu/09052019%20EASA%20T_R_List_Acft.pdf)

Either way, I can’t see Bombardier letting ownership of the 605/650 go away in a deal where they sell off the CRJ.

CP

[ivor toolbox]

Official type cert for CRJ is CL600-2B19, what you get on your type rating as CRJ 200 is commercial designation.

Ttfn

[futurama]

The order backlog for CRJ-based Challengers (800 series): zero. They're no longer being marketed for sale by Bombardier.

So I doubt the type certificate issue is a big one.

[krujje]

The CRJ (model CL-600-2B19) is on Transport Canada Type Certificate No. A-131 (http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/2/nico-celn/c_d.aspx?lang=eng&amp%3baprv_num=A-131&amp%3bISU_NUM=57&amp%3bSTART_DATE=2018-06-07&amp%3bAUTH_DESC=&amp%3bDESC=&amp%3bFRGN_NUM=&amp%3baprv_type=TA&amp%3bPARTS_NUM=&amp%3bid_num=1189). TC No. A-131 also includes every model of Challenger from the original model 600 (CL-600-1A11) to the model 604 Variant (CL-600-2B16). Note that the Challenger 605 and 650 are just marketing designations for evolutions of the 604 Variant, and thus are not listed as models on the TC. A-131 also has all of the follow-on regional jet models from the CRJ700 (model CL-600-2C10) to the CRJ1000 (model CL-600-2E25).

The Challenger 300 is on Transport Canada Type Certificate A-234 (http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/2/nico-celn/c_d.aspx?lang=eng&amp%3baprv_num=A-234&amp%3bISU_NUM=9&amp%3bSTART_DATE=2018-07-06&amp%3bAUTH_DESC=&amp%3bDESC=&amp%3bFRGN_NUM=&amp%3baprv_type=TA&amp%3bPARTS_NUM=&amp%3bid_num=1554).

[futurama]

The End:

Bombardier exits commercial aviation with $550-million sale of regional jets to Mitsubishi


(Reuters) - Bombardier Inc said on Tuesday it will sell its money-losing regional jet business to Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) for $550 million in cash, in a deal marking the Canadian plane and train maker’s exit from commercial aviation.

Montreal-based Bombardier had combined its aviation units to focus more on profitable business jets and passenger rail cars, after facing a cash-crunch in 2015 while bringing its flagship commercial jet to market. ...

Bombardier will continue to assemble its regional jet planes (CRJ), but will stop making the aircraft in the second half of 2020, after it finishes delivering its remaining orders.


https://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCAKCN1TQ1IR-OCABS