BRIAN DUNN / MONTREAL
Bombardier also confident of landing Air Canada business, but says it needs time to study feasibility of 100-seater
Delta Connection, Bombardier's largest customer, is close to placing a $1 billion order for 45 50-seat CRJ200s, says the airline's president. Meanwhile, the Montreal-based manufacturer hopes to win at least some of an imminent order from Air Canada for 105 regional jets.
Delta Connection president Fred Buttrell said the airline will place "a new aircraft order and there's a good chance a lot of these will be fulfilled with a CRJ platform", following a ceremony on 9 December to mark the delivery of the 1,000th CRJ to long-time customer Comair, a Delta subsidiary. "I think we'll be ready to make some official announcements by the end of the month," he says. Delta's two feeder airlines operate more than 340 CRJs, or about 26% of all CRJs in service.
Pierre Beaudoin, president of Bombardier Aerospace, is confident the manufacturer will supply at least some of the regional jets Air Canada is expected to order. An announcement is due as early as this week.
"If there's a mix, we can definitely participate in the majority of the categories that Air Canada is discussing," says Beaudoin. "If Air Canada wants a 100-seat aircraft in their mix it will have to be from one of the other manufacturers."
While some analysts say the regional jet revolution has peaked due to industry-wide restructuring, Beaudoin says regional jets have a bright future.
"The airlines need regional jets for hub feeding, point-to-point flying, developing new markets and keeping a presence in markets that are going through seasonal change. The regional jet is an effective tool for the airlines to keep costs down and they can address capacity with frequency," he says.
Beaudoin maintains that Bombardier will take another 12-18 months to study the feasibility of entering the 100-seat market.
"We're looking to accomplish at least a 15% operating cost advantage and that takes a lot of studying before we make a decision because we're basically reinventing a 100-seat airplane. If we can accomplish that, we have to put an overall package together to see if it makes good business sense for us to enter that market," he says.
Source: Flight International
