Bombardier Eyes Production Boost

After five years of selling and shedding assets, slashing its workforce and paring its business down to its most profitable core, Bombardier is back in the black and considering a production boost. The company delivered more than 120 of its long-range, large-cabin business jets in 2021 and expects to do better in 2022. "Looking ahead, we are positioning ourselves to increase the number of deliveries by another 15-20% as soon as 2023, while maintaining a sharp focus on balancing longer-term production increases with the pricing environment," President and CEO Éric Martel said in a statement.

The pandemic has been good to the business aircraft market as businesses and the wealthy try to avoid the travel complications it has caused. The caveat in the rosy outlook is that even the luxury jet market is experiencing supply chain issues but Martel said most of the problems are with smaller companies that are having trouble rehiring staff after pandemic layoffs. He said the supply problems are “manageable.” The upbeat report is a contrast to the company’s massive purge of its various business streams, including its train division and all aircraft enterprises except the bizjet business. It also closed its Learjet division. Martel is predicting $6.5 billion in revenue this year compared to $6 billion in 2021.