Bombardier: “We thought demand would be better by now.”
Bombardier has seen increased interest in its largest Global family business jets, but the manufacturer said it had expected to see more demand for new business jets by now.
Bombardier has seen increased interest in its largest Global family business jets, but the manufacturer said it had expected to see more demand for new business jets by now.
“We thought the market would have been more buoyant by now,” said Guy Hachey, president and chief operating officer, Bombardier Aerospace, while reporting the manufacturer’s second quarter results. “We thought it would be better, but the pipeline is quite good.”
Hachey says the manufacturer has a seven months backlog for Learjet aircraft versus six months at the start of 2010; the Challenger backlog is nine months compared to 13 months in January, and the Global backlog has strengthened from 26 to 28 months. He says prices have firmed up, particularly for Globals. Bombadier has 11 unsold green Learjets down from 19 white-tails in 2009.
“There are signs of recovery,” said Pierre Beaudoin, Bombardier president and chief executive officer. “There has been a significant reduction in business aircraft cancellations.” Bombardier sold 26 new business jets in the second quarter with 12 cancelled. The 14 aircraft net-order is the strongest result for seven quarters.
Bombardier said it had no plans to cut production rates.
