US state abandons bid for assembly work on proposed airliner, clearing way for Montreal workers to clinch role
A key Bombardier bargaining strategy for the proposed CSeries airliner family fell apart last week, with the only non-Canadian bidder for final-assembly work deserting the process in frustration and Montreal workers apparently clinching the role with a new labour deal. New Mexico publicly announced it was withdrawing the state's bid for the assembly work on 1 March, charging that Bombardier was using the Albuquerque proposal as merely a negotiating ploy in talks with competing sites in Montreal and Toronto backed by the Canadian government.
Bombardier had reneged on plans to recommend a primary and secondary assembly location to its board of directors in December, alleges Rick Homans, New Mexico secretary of economic development. Meanwhile, he says, Bombardier continued negotiations with Canadian officials after receiving a best and final offer from New Mexico with no further consultations.
"The decision has been a moving target since mid-December," says Homans. When a Bombardier executive called on 28 February to request a further delay, state officials decided to drop out of the competition, says Homans, who acknowledges misgivings about Bombardier's intentions all along. "We were not blind to the sceptics," he says, but "we thought we could present a compelling business case to override a compelling political case".
Bombardier says it is still considering the New Mexico bid and that no decision has been made for the assembly location. Bombardier also says it had never set a deadline for making a decision. Homans declines to describe details of New Mexico's bid, but notes potential advantages for a US manufacturing presence. Bombardier would have the US government as an ally in any future trade disputes with Brazil and possibly Europe, as the 110- to 130-seat narrowbody CSeries family would compete against aircraft offered by Airbus and Embraer. A New Mexico base also might have allowed the company to finance aircraft orders through the US Export-Import Bank.
Meanwhile, a new labour contract struck with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents 6,300 workers at Bombardier's Mirabel plant, may guarantee the final assembly role, reports Flight International sister publication Air Transport Intelligence. A ratification vote on the new contract terms was pending late last week.
STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
