Bombardier sells Q-400 line to Viking
 

Interesting development. Wonder what'll happen to the CRJ line. Rumour has it they'll sell that to Airbus and it'll become the A100 line.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremyb.../#6699ad641736

Wonder will Viking fix the nose gears! :)

Will be interesting if Viking will be able to sell more Q400s.

It will all depend "if" they can produce the product at a lower cost and than lower the selling price of the Q 400. Presently the Q 400 is overpriced.

It's not immediately obvious how Viking's track record, such as it is, in selling Twotters and CL-415 water bombers is immediately applicable to the manufacture and marketing of a regional airliner.

I wish them well, but I'm not holding my breath.

I doubt very much that the Q400 line will move from its current location. All the tooling and processes are there so it shouldn't effect the build quality. By the by, if the Q400 is too expensive, why do they continue to sell very well?

I'm more interested in what this means for the future of Bombardier as an aircraft manufacturer. First the C series, now the Q-400. Have the powers that be at Bombardier decided building commercial aircraft isn't worth the trouble and are working their way out of it?

It makes sense for Bombardier to concentrate on jets and let a turboprop specialist such as Viking have the Q400.
Turboprops are a niche market at the lower end of the aviation pecking order and the customer base has little in common with that for their regional and business jets. Viking has done a very good job with the DHC6-400 when you consider that it was essentially a dead duck when they took it over.

Newbie so here and cant post a link.
Bombardier is cutting 5000 job also.
It on the CBC news

The market apparently doesn't like them dumping the Q-400. BDRBF is down almost a quarter today (23.79%) at 1.85 - near the 12 month low.

Nope it's all about the rate of cash burn. They are burning cash at a rate that is unsustainable. Also only producing 2 A 220's a month is pathetic. Selling the C series program for $1.00 isn't helping their cash flow either. FYI the Q 400 is underselling the ATR by a wide margin.

I wonder where the Bombardier cash is going.

They don't seem to be spending a lot on A220 (or even Q400) components, because they are not producing a lot of them. They aren't working on any new designs with a substantial team. It's not apparent how much of the Montreal (and Belfast etc) facilities and workforce have actually been "sold" to Airbus, and how much they are a subcontractor and Airbus are only doing the marketing and advising on production.

Meanwhile, Bombardier at least had a worldwide presence for the key ongoing support and spares side, looking after turboprops, jets and business jets. However is Viking going to replicate that ? If they are just going to subcontract Q400 support all out to Bombardier anyway then operators are going to lose direct relationships with the manufacturer, never a good thing.

I think that this is key - whether operators and investors retain faith in the current Q400 fleet depends on how well they continue to be supported. Bombardier's product support may not have been the best but supporting a high-utilisation airliner as opposed to a bush / commuter aircraft is a totally different ball-game.
As I understand it, the Downsview site has been sold and leased back for a maximum term of five years including extensions. I suspect that the remaining 60 odd aircraft on order will be completed there and then the line shut down as the costs of relocating it would be enormous. ATR must think all their Christmases have come at once.

Yes, there's reportedly an order backlog (some firmer than others) for around 100 Dash 8s, but nearly half of those are for a single customer - Spicejet. ATR's backlog is about three times that number.

FYI, the Qseries is built at the Downsview facility, which Bombardier announced they had sold a few months ago, stating they were moving in a few years. (3 year lease plus options for 2 more years)
https://www.thestar.com/business/201...-for-635m.html

So Viking can't just stay at Downsview and keep building Qseries.

Incidentally, the Downsview sale was all sorted and announced well before the Qseries programme sale, and was to a totally different entity.

I think the outstanding Spicejet order is for the new high density Q-400 90 seat nextgen HGW version - also being offered to Flybe

with 28'' seat pitch reduced from 30'' bumps the seat count to 90, Bombardier moved the aft bulkhead further back and reconfigured the front right door, in addition to bringing the seats closer together, Canadian regulators certified the 90-seat variant this summer. first delivery 9/18

The 90-seat Q400, like other Q400s, has a 1,100nm (2,037km) range and cruises at 360kts