Bombardier has suspended flight testing of its CRJ1000 and says both certification and first delivery of the new 100-seat regional jet will be delayed until the second half of its 2011 fiscal year.
The first production CRJ1000 completed first flight in July of this year. However, since the fiscal second quarter, says Bombardier, flight testing has been suspended "pending software updates to the rudder control-by-wire system".
It adds: "Given the delay, flight testing will be completed later than anticipated and the type certification and first aircraft deliveries will be delayed to the second half of fiscal year 2011."
Bombardier's FY2010-11 begins on 1 February 2010. As such the CRJ1000 will now be delivered between August 2010 and January 2011.
The company's order book for the CRJ1000 stands at 49 aircraft.
Meanwhile, the Canadian airframer saw its earnings, revenues and order book decline in the fiscal third quarter ended 31 October, as the economic recession continued to smart.
Earnings before financing income, financing expense and income taxes (EBIT) totalled $103 million, or 5% of revenues, compared to $176 million, or 7.7%, for the same period last fiscal year.
Revenues for the three-month period dropped to $2.1 billion from $2.3 billion in the year-earlier quarter.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
