Bombardier and Gulfstream are both seeing positive signs that the big business jet market is improving, although they measure it a little differently. In interviews with Business Jet Traveler, officials with both companies offered cautious optimism that the pain is easing in their business. Bombardier CEO Pierre Beaudoin said the market “is starting to see signs of recovery as shown by the significant reduction in business aircraft order cancellations.” New orders are outpacing cancellations, he said. General Dynamics CEO Jay Johnson is also seeing stability.
He said the order backlog for large-cabin aircraft is about 18 months, which is about where the company likes it. The mid-size market is lagging but getting better. “It’s not where it needs to be or where it will be,” he said. “But we’re seeing order book activity for mid-cabin Gulfstreams at modest but encouraging levels.”
