Bombardier drops CSeries program for now
Wednesday February 1, 2006
Bombardier announced yesterday that it is putting the CSeries aircraft program on hold after failing to find a launch customer for its proposed 110/130-seat jet, but it stopped short of pulling the plug entirely."We are not talking a cancellation. We are putting together a team to rethink the program," Bombardier Aerospace President and CEO Pierre Beaudoin said during a conference call. "We have to have firm orders before moving ahead on CSeries." The company is looking for potential partners in growth areas like China, India and Russia, "including Sukhoi," he confirmed.
Beaudoin said the company earmarked $100 million to support further development in 2006 and will retain 50 people to continue work on the CSeries. The remaining 300 employees will be placed elsewhere in the company. He said Bombardier now will focus on a possible stretch version of the CRJ900--a 900X--as well as larger turboprops in the 80/100-seat range based on its Q400 series. "It's possible you could see a new regional aircraft before you would see the CSeries," he said.
He noted that the company suspended production of the 50-seat CRJ200 in November at about the time Northwest Airlines declared bankruptcy. NWA had been touted as a possible launch customer for the CSeries. But he said Bombardier should produce 70 commercial aircraft in the coming year. "This was the right decision to make at this time given current market conditions," he concluded.
This is the second time the airframer has tried to launch a larger aircraft. In 2001 it killed its BRJ-X program in favor of a stretch to the CRJ series. The CSeries appeared to have gotten further; at the Paris Air Show last June, Bombardier announced a preliminary agreement with Pratt & Whitney Canada to supply a powerplant, but little has been heard about the program since.
When the CSeries was unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show in 2004, Bombardier proposed two basic models, the C110 and C130, configured for either long- or short-haul travel between 1,800 and 3,000 nm.
by Sandra Arnoult
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=3883
Wednesday February 1, 2006
Bombardier announced yesterday that it is putting the CSeries aircraft program on hold after failing to find a launch customer for its proposed 110/130-seat jet, but it stopped short of pulling the plug entirely."We are not talking a cancellation. We are putting together a team to rethink the program," Bombardier Aerospace President and CEO Pierre Beaudoin said during a conference call. "We have to have firm orders before moving ahead on CSeries." The company is looking for potential partners in growth areas like China, India and Russia, "including Sukhoi," he confirmed.
Beaudoin said the company earmarked $100 million to support further development in 2006 and will retain 50 people to continue work on the CSeries. The remaining 300 employees will be placed elsewhere in the company. He said Bombardier now will focus on a possible stretch version of the CRJ900--a 900X--as well as larger turboprops in the 80/100-seat range based on its Q400 series. "It's possible you could see a new regional aircraft before you would see the CSeries," he said.
He noted that the company suspended production of the 50-seat CRJ200 in November at about the time Northwest Airlines declared bankruptcy. NWA had been touted as a possible launch customer for the CSeries. But he said Bombardier should produce 70 commercial aircraft in the coming year. "This was the right decision to make at this time given current market conditions," he concluded.
This is the second time the airframer has tried to launch a larger aircraft. In 2001 it killed its BRJ-X program in favor of a stretch to the CRJ series. The CSeries appeared to have gotten further; at the Paris Air Show last June, Bombardier announced a preliminary agreement with Pratt & Whitney Canada to supply a powerplant, but little has been heard about the program since.
When the CSeries was unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show in 2004, Bombardier proposed two basic models, the C110 and C130, configured for either long- or short-haul travel between 1,800 and 3,000 nm.
by Sandra Arnoult
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=3883
