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Bombardier slides down the financial ladder

As politicians hammer away at CEOs flying corporate jets, private jet manufacturers also take a beating. Case and point: Bombardier Inc.

Bombardier Inc.—a Montreal-based private jet producer—is cutting 1,360 jobs due to the downturn of demand for private jets.

It’s already difficult for manufacturers to deal with the credit crunch—clients no longer have the funds to buy these prestigious aircrafts. Now, they have to deal with a battered image of the executive aircraft.

The National Business Aviation Administration claimed that it’s worried that politicians are hammering private jets without paying objective attention to its benefits—faster travel time and smaller air ports. In fact, corporate jets have more than 5,000 airports in North America compared to commercial planes which only have 500 main airports.

Manufacturers are being hit hard by the economy and harder by the political backlash. Many companies fear that this will force the industry into a downward spiral.    

Faced with deferrals and cancellations, Bombardier was left with no choice but to cut its aerospace work force by 4.5 percent.

While Bombardier executives say they have good industry prospects for the long term, Guy Hachey—Bombardier Aerospace chief operating officer—said in an interview that the company is anticipating “more volatility in the short term.”
 
The company layoffs will be partly offset by the hiring of new personnel for the C Series (a newly launched long-range jet) and its Learjet 85 program. Bombardier will hire for more than 600 new positions for the two jet programs and they will also contract 230 interior completion specialists for its facility in Montreal.