Airbus official calls Canada’s Bombardier C Series jet an ‘orphan’: Bombardier dumps sales partner TAG Aeronautics

Even as Canada’s train and plane maker Bombardier is sounding optimistic about its ambitious C Series jet, the same has been dubbed an “orphan” by a top Airbus official. In the recent past, the two companies were in talks to prop up the struggling Canadian aircraft project. But the talks failed.

John Leahy, Airbus’s chief commercial officer, while speaking at an Airbus’s annual press conference in Paris took a dig at C Series and called it “a nice little plane” though it is probably doomed to be a poor seller, reports The Globe and Mail.

Explaining why he used the word “orphan,” John said he was referring to the C Series jet’s small-family status with just two versions – the CS100 and the larger CS300 for seating 100 to 150 passengers. The long-delayed plane had its official launch in 2008 and after 9 years it is getting ready for regular service with the Swiss International Airlines in the coming summer.

So far, C series jet bagged 243 orders with no order having been booked in the last one and half years. This has triggered a funding crisis with the Quebec government and local pension fund stepping into pump US$2.5-billion (AU$3.6 billion) into the C Series project to boost its development and marketing.

Lacks competitive advantage

According to Leahy, the C Series faces the flaw of not having any competitive advantage. In his view, the market need on which C Series harped has been over. This is because both Airbus and Boeing have come out with new versions of single-aisle jets such as A320neo and the Boeing 737 Max and equipped with more fuel-efficient engines unlike the predecessor versions.

“The trouble is that, when Airbus moved to the neo and Boeing moved to the Max, the reasons for the C Series evaporated because they were trying to be 15 per cent more fuel efficient than an A320 or a 737,” Leahy said.

Yet another Airbus official, Tom Williams, Airbus’s chief operating officer also said Bombardier needs to invest heavily in the C Series to make it a success. He said there must be a 10-15 year perspective for making heavy investments in areas such as customer financing, training, spares, residual-value guarantees etc. But that needs deep pockets and maximum commitment.

Ends tie up

Meanwhile, Bombardier said it is taking direct responsibility for the sales of its business aircraft to ensure better profit, reported The Wall Street Journal. It said the ongoing sales deal with TAG Aeronautics has been terminated.

“We are adapting our business model to capitalise on growing market opportunities around the world and will focus on direct interaction with our customers,” Bombardier Chief Executive Alain Bellemare said in a news release.

TAG Aeronautics Ltd was Bombardier’s exclusive sales representative and distributor in the new Challenger and Global series business aircraft for 21 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

The report added that Bombardier's new leadership is keen to work aggressively for more deals with large airlines to reposition the C Series planes as distinct from the products of leading competitors in Brazil, the US and Europe.