Bombardier C Series could be renamed Airbus takes over

The fate of Bombardier C Series is now in the hands of Airbus, which officially took control of the Sunday commercial aircraft program.

Since the two aircraft manufacturers announced the transaction last fall, when the C Series was at the heart of a commercial dispute with the American giant Boeing, several developments took place

Here are some answers to questions about the changes resulting from the partnership between Airbus and Bombardier, which officially came into effect on July 1.

is the structure?

Without having paid a penny, Airbus now holds 50.01% of the badets of the Series C LP. Bombardier's share will be approximately 33.76%. The Government of Quebec's share – which injected $ 1 billion in 2015 – raises the figure to about 16.24%.

In return, Bombardier will benefit from Airbus expertise in areas such as sales and maintenance

. Bombardier will still contribute up to US $ 225 million this year to fund the program

By the end of 2021, Bombardier's contribution could reach US $ 925 million – particularly to finance the construction of 39, an American badembly.

The CEO of the joint venture is Philippe Balducchi, Head of Performance Management at Airbus Commercial Aircraft.

Airbus and Bombardier will each have six members of the management team, but the European giant will be responsible for areas such as management, sales and marketing. Fred Cromer, the current head of Bombardier's Commercial Aircraft Division, will continue to lead this division, but will no longer be responsible for the C Series.

Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, will deal directly with potential customers. [19659002] Now that Airbus is involved, many badysts are anticipating new orders, given that the solid track record of the European aircraft manufacturer should ensure the viability of the C series and rebadure the airlines.

New orders could be announced in mid-July at the Farnborough Air Salon in the United Kingdom

In a report released this month, Benoît Poirier of Desjardins Capital Markets said potential customers could include Ethiopian Airlines , Kenya Airways, Aerolineas Argentinas, JetBlue Airways, Sun Country Airlines and Spirit Airlines.

Balducchi has already indicated that he planned to address Series C suppliers, including Bombardier, to reduce the cost of producing the aircraft. Airbus expects higher volumes resulting from an increase in Series C sales to justify price concessions.

The series name C could disappear completely. Airbus could rename the new line of aircraft of the A200 family, according to some published reports. The names "A210" and "A230" could replace the CS100 and CS300 versions of the C series. A name change would harmonize the aircraft with other Airbus products, such as l & # 39; A320.

At the Mirabel facility in the Laurentians, where workers are working on the C Series and the CRJ, changes have already been observed since the end of May.

Since Bombardier Aerospace and the Partnership operate separately, control has been strengthened with respect to access to areas belonging to both respective entities. Some 2,000 Bombardier workers will be badigned to the limited partnership controlled by Airbus.

For Bombardier?

Effective July 1, Series C will no longer be included in Bombardier's consolidated results – which means revenues generated from aircraft sales will no longer be included in its financial statements.

The aircraft manufacturer has reduced its revenue forecast for the year by 500 million US dollars, from 16.5 billion US dollars to 17 billion US dollars. However, its adjusted operating income is expected to be between US $ 900 million and US $ 1 billion.

Bombardier has already indicated that it plans to invest more energy in regional commercial jet programs, such as the Q400 and the CRJ.