Bombardier Cuts CSeries Deliveries, Adds New Order

Bombardier reduced its CSeries delivery target for the year, but announced a new order for the aircraft, the first for over 18 months.

CSeries deliveries will now be in the 20-22 range, down from 30 as issues with Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan engines continue to impact supply. Deliveries of new engines will be diverted to existing customers for spares, resulting in a shortage for newly built aircraft.

Bombardier had better news with the announcement of a letter of intent from an unnamed European customer to buy 31 CSeries aircraft plus options on another 30. The firm order is worth USD$2.4 billion at current list prices. A final purchase agreement is expected before the end of the year.

The Montréal-based plane and train maker announced its third quarter results on Thursday, with EBIT earnings before special items of USD$165 million up from $87 million in the previous year period. The company made a net loss of $117 million, from a loss of $94 million in 3Q16. Revenue grew 3.0 percent to $3.84 billion.

Bombardier delivered 16 commercial aircraft during the quarter, including 4 CRJ Series, 7 Q400s and 5 CSeries planes. It took 25 net orders, from nine net cancellations last year. The order backlog stood at 433 commercial aircraft at the end of the quarter, down three from 2016.

The planemaker also delivered 31 business aircraft in the third quarter, down from 36 last year.

Bombardier said it is on track to deliver 50 commercial aircraft and around 135 business aircraft in the full year.

In October, Airbus took a controlling stake in the CSeries aircraft, a move chief executive Alain Bellemare said was a “game-changing step for Bombardier.” He said it positions the aircraft “for long-term commercial success and will generate new and sustainable value for our customers, suppliers and shareholders.”

Looking forward, Bombardier said consolidated EBIT before special items for the full year is expected to be “at least $630 million, the upper end of our previous guidance range.”