JUSTIN WASTNAGE / BERLIN
Canadian manufacturer is one of three evaluating business
Bombardier is carrying out a technical evaluation of Fairchild Dornier's 728 family programme after a request from the German federal government, the Bavarian state government and Fairchild Dornier customer Lufthansa.
Bombardier engineers arrived at Fairchild Dornier's plant at Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich, last week and are expected to stay for up to a month.
Bombardier says that its participation in the study "does not indicate future intent", but last week the company confirmed that it is "one of three" companies looking at Fairchild Dornier, which went into receivership in March (Flight International, 7-13 May).
The evaluation will be completed by mid-June, when bridging loans from a German bank consortium designed to keep the manufacturer operating in the short-term will be exhausted. The deadline could be extended, however, if talks with Bombardier are progressing.
The German federal finance ministry says it would consider giving Fairchild Dornier a further bridging loan "if it is engaged with talks with a strategic partner". Dr Wolf Günther, deputy director general of the federal finance ministry adds that Bombardier "seems to be the only good potential partner".
Fellow manufacturer Embraer has ruled out any involvement, with Europe, Middle East and Africa managing director Nelson Silva saying last week: "Whatever happens, Embraer is not interested in Fairchild Dornier or the 728."
Bombardier would face a large bill if it decides to invest. Sources say at least $1 billion more would be needed to see the 78-100-seat family through to certification and start of production. This assumes that Bombardier can secure concessions from the German government and banks and leverage savings out of its supplier base through renegotiated contracts. Backing from Bombardier would also enable the programme to access pre-delivery payments by customers, which Fairchild Dornier has not been able to.
Canadian analysts are sceptical that Bombardier would be prepared to make that sort of investment. "C$600 million [$384 million] was Bombardier's single largest programme commitment to date and we're talking here about something two to three times that," says one analyst. This would represent a major increase on the C$2.5 billion in development costs still on Bombardier's books.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY PAUL LEWIS IN WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
