The International Association of Machinists (IAM), the labour union representing US aerospace workers, has traded in its 18-year-old Learjet 35A for a Model 60 built by its members at Bombardier Learjet.
With more than 750,000 members scattered across Canada, Guam, Canada and the USA, the IAM's international officers travel frequently to negotiations, conferences and other meetings.
The IAM represents more than 16,000 workers in Wichita alone, at companies like Boeing, Cessna, Learjet and Raytheon, as well as at most of the major airlines, fixed base operators, and dozens of non-aviation companies, such as Harley Davidson and Caterpillar.
Learjet won the repeat business partly on the basis of the union's experience with the 35A - only one mission cancelled because of the aircraft in almost 18 years - and partly because of the manufacturer's aggressive marketing.
Learjet allowed the IAM a trade-in value for the 35A that matched the price the union paid for the aircraft when it was new in 1980.
Source: Flight International
