Buoyed by a wave of well-heeled travellers anxious to avoid the COVID travel mess, Bombardier Inc. has turned the corner on profitability and is considering increasing production of its high-priced business jets. The company expects to deliver more than 120 of its luxurious long-range aircraft in 2022 and demand is continuing to surge. “Looking ahead, we are positioning ourselves to increase the number of deliveries by another 15-20% as soon as 2023, while maintaining a sharp focus on balancing longer-term production increases with the pricing environment,” said Bombardier Chief Executive Eric Martel in a statement.
Complicating the expansion are supply chain issues that are a general malaise in the manufacturing sector but Martel said they are “manageable” and confined mainly to smaller suppliers who are having a hard time rehiring people laid off during the pandemic. Martel also noted Canada’s looming 10 percent luxury tax on aircraft and cars worth more than $100,000 and boats worth more than $200,000 won’t help but Canada is a tiny fraction of the company’s market. He’s predicting $6.5 billion in revenues in 2022, up from $6 billion in 2021.