Bombardier delays twinjet’s go-ahead decision in wake of carrier’s Chapter 11 filing
Northwest Airlines is in discussions with Bombardier to become a launch customer for the CSeries airliner family, but the carrier’s bankruptcy filing is delaying the manufacturer’s decision to go ahead with the project.
“We are in talks with Northwest Airlines to purchase the CSeries,” says the manufacturer. “There is no guarantee, but Northwest is a potential customer.”
Northwest also confirms it is in negotiations over an order for the 110- to 135-seat aircraft. The CSeries is due to enter service in 2010 and is seen as replacement for the airline’s 148-strong fleet of ageing McDonnell Douglas DC-9s operating on its domestic network.
However, the manufacturer indicates that Northwest’s financial problems caused the board to delay a decision on the aircraft’s launch from October until November at the earliest. “The CSeries project evaluation continues,” says the company. “The project will again be reviewed at the next board update scheduled for late November.”
The lack of a launch customer has hindered Bombardier’s plans since it revealed the $2.1 billion CSeries programme last year, and is a requirement for hundreds of millions of dollars in UK and Canadian government grants and development of a new centreline engine by Pratt & Whitney Canada.
Meanwhile, Bombardier’s director of international marketing and airline analysis Philippe Poutissou expects Asia-Pacific airlines will account for about 30% of CSeries orders. He says that several undisclosed airlines in the region are on the CSeries advisory council.
“The international market will be a bigger market for us going forward,” says Poutissou.
DARREN SHANNON/WASHINGTON DC & BRENDAN SOBIE/SINGAPORE
Source: Flight International
