Bombardier has consolidated its aviation business under one umbrella company called Bombardier Aviation. The move will result in the closure of plants in Belfast and Morocco, which manufacture aerostructures. Bombardier has been on a selling spree since its CSeries airliner program put severe financial strain on the company. It shed its air tanker business and Q-400 turboprop program to Viking Air and also sold off its training business. What’s left are the business jet nameplates Global, Challenger and Learjet and its CRJ regional jet business.
“With our clear vision for the future of Bombardier Aviation, we will focus our aerostructures activities around our core capabilities in Montréal, Mexico and our newly acquired Global 7500 wing operations in Texas,” said Bombardier CEO Alain Bellemare. “Collectively, these facilities provide Bombardier with all the skills, technologies and capabilities to design, produce and service the current and next generation of aircraft.” On the business aircraft side, Bombardier is selling fewer aircraft (24 bizjets in the first quarter of 2019 vs. 31 in 2018) but they’re worth more and revenue dipped marginally over the same period from $1.1 billion to $970 million.