Learjet inc Wichita Ks

Isn' Bombard a Learjet?

Bombardier Aircraft certifies a new Learjet almost four years ago. During this period, rivals Cessna and Embraer obtained Federal Aviation Administration approval for at least nine cleaner or improved lightweight and mid-size corporate aircraft. These do not including Cirrus, which last autumn launched its first commercial aircraft, the Vision, and Honda Aircraft's HondaJet, which achieved its 2015 model approval.

Learjets 70 and 75 from Bombardier, both of which were type-tested at the end of 2013, are the only planes manufactured at the Montreal-based company's Wichita factory. Since there are no more Learjets on the drawing boards - at least none that Bombardier has heralded - it leaves some in the business thinking about the destiny of the historical aerospace mark.

It is important for commercial air transport companies to have a uniform fleet of new or improved aeroplanes. No direct question was raised by officers of the Bombardier administration about the company's long-term plan for Learjet, involving the design and operation of new aircrafts. "Influenced by new product innovation, such as the Learjet 75's body air intake system, which offers a more convenient and quiet passenger compartment, The Eagle has been informed that it will continue to be invested in product innovation.

This new handhold was unveiled last year at the European Business Aviation Association Convention and Exposition in Geneva, Switzerland, but it is not clear what impact it had on unit shipments of its Learjet 75, which reached its low point in 2016. Bombardier shipped 33 Learjet 70 and 75 aircraft in its first full year of manufacturing, 2014.

In the following year, shipments for the two aircraft - Bombardier said in the declaration that there were no shipments per aircraft - amounted to 32. Last year, the airline shipped 24 Learjets, 25 per cent fewer than in 2015. Assuming the current trends persist - Vincent's JetNet iQ is showing 10 Learjet 70/75 shipments in 2017 - and with no new Learjets in the supply chain, Teal group expert Richard Aboulafia said Learjet's prospects are bleak.

Ahmad Saj, head researcher at StrategicAero Research in London, said he thought the Learjet 70 and 75 might be the last aircraft in the brand's nearly 54-year track record. "Hopefully the Lear familiy will vaporize, and without replacements this is another calm phase-out for Bombardier," Ahmad said in an email.

Learjet 85 resuscitation? Despite the 70/75 drop in shipments, there was some sector gambling that Bombardier could resurrect its latest new aircraft design programme, the Learjet 85, which it scraped almost 1 1/2 years ago. Bombardier completed the programme in October 2015 after having announced a break in the January 2015 launch of the largest and longest Learjet in the brand's heritage.

As a result, the enterprise lost more than 2.5 billion dollars in depreciation and more than 1,000 employees, 600 of them in Wichita, lost their job. Officers at Bombardier then said that the combined "soft market" for the mixed mid-size corporate jets and the company's two other airplane design programmes - the C-series small aeroplane and the long-range wide-body Global 7000 - resulted in the 85 being scrapped.

However, since most of the 85's design cost has been covered and the tools and IP are in place, revitalizing the 85 this year would not be as expensive as some have been speculating. Bombardier affirmed that there will be no awakening. "Bombardier said in his declaration, "There are no blueprints to return the Learjet 85 programme after its cancelling.

At this point, I think they have achieved a point where the extra cost (for the launch of the Learjet 85) was considerable. Bombardier's Challenger 350 is a large commercial aircraft built in Canada. Mr Vincent said that the firm also had difficulty obtaining "good reproducibility, good quality" for the production of the fully assembled Learjet 85. Vincent seems that the Bombardier executives have "no taste for the lower end" of the commercial jets segment, where profit margin is much narrower and competition more intense.

Let's be clear: Bombardier's activities at Wichita Eisenhower National Airport are not exclusively geared to the production of Learjets, nor are the 1,700 staff who work there. I wouldn't tell you how many people work directly for Learjet. There are three additional branches at Bombardier's Wichita site. They include the Air Test Centre - where the C-Series, Global 7000 and other Bombardier aircrafts are tested and certified - and a Mission Group, which is adapting its existing range of aircrafts for specific applications such as defence, searching and rescuing and surveillance.

There is also an Aviation Services Centre that has extended its operation over the past year or so to serve not only Learjets but also its bigger Challenger and GLs. "Bombardier's multi-faceted location in Wichita will remain a strategic asset for its continued success," the firm told The Eagle in its comment.

When Bombardier silently tries to relax Learjet, Vincent says it's an unlucky move.