Bombardier hopes to boost Learjet's market share

Oct. 20--BY MOLLY McMILLIN The Wichita Eagle

Despite a weak market for Learjets and unhappiness with its market share, Bombardier Aerospace will continue to invest in its Learjet line of business jets.

Guy Hachey, president of Bombardier Aerospace, said he's "not happy" with the company's 18 to 19 percent market share of the Learjet 40XR, 45XR and 60XR, light to midsize jets that are assembled in Wichita.

The company is working to increase market share and, in the next five or six years, expects to "do better... as we go forward," Hachey said.

"We are investing heavily in that brand."

Hachey and other company officials made their comments last week in a briefing at the National Business Aviation Association convention in Las Vegas.

Steve Ridolfi, president of Bombardier's business aircraft division, said the company won't stand still in product development for Learjets, including what may come after the Learjet 85 that's currently in development.

"There will have to be product development in the future," Ridolfi said, although he did not elaborate.

"We keep that close to the vest," he said.

In July 2010, the state of Kansas offered Bombardier $27 million in government-backed bonds to secure Learjet 85 work in Bombardier's plant in west Wichita. The money will help with modification and expansion of the Learjet plant to take on the new program.

The facility has expanded its production hangar space and is adding a paint facility, customer delivery center and production flight test facility.

Final assembly, paint, flight testing and delivery of the Learjet 85 will be done here.

Bombardier is feeling good about its global market, but demand is stronger for its larger line of aircraft, Ridolfi said, while "a bit spotty" on the Learjet side.

The company has aligned Learjet production with the market, Hachey said.

"We picked a pretty good level of production rates, and we're happy where we are," he said.

Bombardier is also under pressure to meet the projected delivery schedule of late 2013 for its new C Series airliner, Hachey said. But he said he's confident the plane will enter service next year. Its first flight could occur at the end of 2012, he said.

Bombardier estimates a market for 7,000 planes in the 100- to 149-seat range in the next 20 years.

The C Series can compete well with Airbus' A319 neo and Boeing's re-engined single-aisle plane, the 737-700 MAX. Deliveries of those two planes are years away, so time is on Bombardier's side, Hachey said.

Bombardier also is considering forming a partnership with Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) on narrow-body airliners, Hachey said in the briefing.

The company has formed five teams to study five areas in the proposed partnership -- commonality of products between the C Series and the Chinese C919; leveraging of purchasing; sales; marketing and distribution; and long-term product development, Hachey said.

Despite pressures with the C Series, Rodney Williams, vice president of marketing for Bombardier Business Aircraft, told Canada's Globe and Mail the company is considering a launch of a business-jet variant of the narrow-body plane.

"We have had demand from customers who have asked us to look at" a business-jet version of the aircraft, Williams told the newspaper.

The new business jet would be Bombardier's biggest and most expensive corporate aircraft.

Bombardier also is considering geographic diversification of its manufacturing facilities.

Its facility in Queretaro, Mexico, "has been very successful," Hachey said.

The site will build the composite fuselage for the Learjet 85. It also will manufacture the Learjet 85's electrical harness and perform sub-assembly systems installation, the company has said.

Today, the company employs 2,000 in Mexico with plans to expand to 2,500 by the end of next year, Hachey said.

Bombardier also is evaluating establishing a "low-cost footprint" someplace in North Africa, potentially in Morocco, Hachey said.

The company also employs 350 to 400 engineers in India.

Reach Molly McMillin at 316-269-6708 or [email protected].