Bombardier Will Finish Globals Faster

Montreal-based Bombardier Aerospace has pledged to deliver premium Global Express business jets to customers more quickly, at the same time that a series of aircraft performance enhancements are certified, most of them available as free modifications to the more than three dozen Globals already in service.

The world's third-largest airframer is also making it easier for customers who buy its largest business aircraft by giving them a single point of contact from contract signing to delivery.

Bombardier's flagship Global Express is a 6,000-nmi, $41.7 million airplane that's in fierce, head-butting competition with the U.S.-built Gulfstream V.

"We've built the aircraft to meet the needs of the leaders of the world," says Bombardier Global Express GM Luc Fouquette. "It's the most advanced corporate aircraft out there."

That said, Bombardier is believed to be preparing a new Global variant to counter the Gulfstream V-SP.
To help get the existing Global Express to customers sooner, Bombardier has lined up four outside completion partners for the airplane and has targeted 35 weeks-down from today's 42-from the time of "green" aircraft delivery from its Toronto-Downsview assembly line to in-service availability.

Bombardier has delivered 96 Globals to completion centers and says upwards of 37 are in service, including more than 16 delivered this year. "By Christmas we'll have more than 50 aircraft in service," pledges Global Express product manager Marc Bouliane.

One new customer is Bombardier itself, which will bring the Global Express into its Flexjet fractional program by year-end.

Regarding past delivery difficulties, "We had underestimated the task when we set out to do the completions," Bouliane says. "We had underestimated by far the technical complexity of certifying an aircraft in this category."
Poor communication with customers is also acknowledged, which is why Bombardier has implemented its single-POC policy for Global buyers-"from signature to aircraft delivery."

Enhancements to the Global Express include Performance Enhancement Program aerodynamic mods that improve overall range by about 100 nmi, to better than 6,000-without the further gain that may be gleaned from a pending engine nozzle redesign by Rolls-Royce, Bouliane told Show News. PEP will be part of all new Globals, and available as a free retrofit to existing aircraft.

Certification of a Thales head-up display to work with the aircraft's Honeywell Primus 2000XP avionics suite is proceeding, and is expected this fall. The HUD will be a $500,000 option.

-Rich Piellisch