Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Bombardier CEO sees decision on loss-making CRJ jet this year

Published 2019-01-16, 04:04 p/m
Updated 2019-01-16, 04:10 p/m
© Reuters.  Bombardier CEO sees decision on loss-making CRJ jet this year

© Reuters. Bombardier CEO sees decision on loss-making CRJ jet this year

MOBILE, Ala., Jan 16 (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc BBDb.TO aims to make a decision this year on the future of its CRJ regional jet as it "aggressively" pursues new orders to secure its industrial future, the Canadian planemaker's chief executive said on Wednesday.

The company is exploring "all strategic options" for the loss-making programme including a potential sale, but its immediate focus is to win orders and cut costs, CEO Alain Bellemare told Reuters.

Asked whether Bombardier would reach a decision this year, he said, "I hope so, for sure. The more certainty we can provide the better but we are getting good traction".

Bellemare was speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony marking a new U.S. assembly line for the larger A220 jetliner development, which Bombardier agreed in 2017 to sell to a venture led by Europe's Airbus AIR.PA .

Bombardier, which had struggled to keep pace with the huge cash demands of a new aircraft programme, later sold its older Q400 turboprop programme and announced a review of the 20-year-old CRJ series.

"I don't want to drag this on for too long but a lot of that is not in my hands; it is also in customers' hands," Bellemare said.

"We are trying to see how we build a backlog. For us to keep this thing going we need to have a skyline (future production profile) that makes sense. We are willing to maybe reduce our production volume but at the same time we need to have sufficient volume to feed the supply chain," he added.

"We are very aggressive right now. We are working aggressively with airline customers. That's our number one priority."

Analysts say adding new orders and lowering costs are measures designed to throw the ageing CRJ programme a lifeline and make it more attractive to long-term investors.

The CRJ competes with Embraer EMBR3.SA regional jets and is helped by union "scope clause" rules in the United States restricting the size of jets used by regional airlines.

Bellemare played down concerns that the clauses could be renegotiated, hurting demand for the CRJ, saying they had historically been hard for airline managements to change.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.