Heavyweights Fight for Every Victory
in Arena Where Prizes Top $40 Million
In what's become an annual -- actually, in this case, perennial
-- war of words, Gulfstream and Bombardier are here in Atlanta,
continuing their dogfight over who's-the-best and what's-the-most-wonderful
in top-of-the-line business aircraft: (in alphabetical order)
Bombardier's Global Express or the Gulfstream V.
Bombardier delivered the first Global Express last July
to Toyota auto affiliate AirFlite. |
They're of course not the only ones, as Gulfstream continues to
court high-end clients for the G-IVSP, Dassault Falcon Jet works
to maintain its position (the French-owned firm claims half of
the high end market, by dollar), and Fairchild Dornier weighs
in with the Fairchild Envoy 7.
It's Global-versus-Gulfstream that gets most of the attention,
though, as the surprising sales success of those two long-range
business aircraft-orders now exceed 105 for the Global Express
and 150 for the G-V-has kicked business aviation up to a whole
new level, the neighborhood of $40 million for a single plane.
Their prosperity has even pulled Boeing and Airbus into the fray,
as the 737 and A319 are now offered in corporate configurations.
Bombardier is for the first time at NBAA able to point not only
to certification but to real customer deliveries of its $38 million
Global Express. In August Bombardier got the formal Global Express
operational nod from the U.S. FAA and Transport Canada. The first
Global Express delivery, to Toyota affiliate AirFlite (Long Beach,
CA) was made this past July. The Global Express got its European
JAA certification earlier in the year.
Besides claiming nearly half again as many orders for the $39.5
million G-V, Gulfstream claims more than 61 G-V deliveries. It
makes much of the fact that it's first in the ultra long-range
premium class, as the G-V has been in service since the end of
June 1997.
Bombardier counters that the G-V is a derivative of older Gulfstreams,
while the Bombardier Global Express is all-new. "The G-V
is the end of a line and this is just a beginning for us,"
a spokesman says. He says that as aircraft availability now makes
it easier to demonstrate actual Global Express performance, "the
aircraft will sell itself." Pilots and executive passengers
who've flown the Global Express, he avers, "realize this
is the preferred aircraft." New Global Express performance
enhancements are being promoted here in Atlanta.
Both the Global Express and G-V are powered by twin BR710 engines
from BMW Rolls-Royce.
And while the G-V is clearly its flagship, Gulfstream continues
to promote the $29.5 million G-IVSP. More than 350 G-IVs and -IVSPs
are in service. The G-IVSP is powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce
Tay Mk 611-8s.
Dassault Falcon Jet's newest, the Falcon 900C, was certified by
the FAA this past summer, two months after it won French DGAC
approval. The $26.93 million trijet is said to combine the best
qualities of the Falcon 900B it supersedes and the advanced avionics
-- Honeywell Primus 2000 -- of the long-range Falcon 900EX. The
900C has three AlliedSignal TFE731-5BR-1C engines.
The 900EX trijet is Dassault Falcon Jet's top-of-the-line offering,
selling for $30.43 million. It's got more range and is slightly
faster than the 900C. The Falcon 900EX has three TFE731-60 engines.
New to the field, San Antonio-based Fairchild Aerospace is promoting
its Envoy 7 as the "only large-cabin jet at a mid-size jet
price." The aircraft, which is to enter service in 2002,
is based on the 728JET regional airliner. "The Envoy 7 offers
the same range, the same speed and roughly the same price ($30.5
million for the Envoy 7) as a Gulfstream IVSP," Fairchild
chairman and CEO Carl Albert said at this past June's Paris Air
Show, "but you could put a Gulfstream IV inside it and still
have room to walk around."
Fairchild says its experience serving the regionals means that
business jet operators can expect greater dispatch reliability
with the Envoy 7 than from other business jets.
By Rich Piellisch
NBAA 1999, Atlanta, Ga.
