Bombardier Aerospace Delivers 353 Aircraft and Records 378 Net Orders
in Fiscal Year 2008/09
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - February 05, 2009) - - Business
aircraft: 239 deliveries; 262 net orders
- Commercial aircraft: 110 deliveries; 114 net orders
- Amphibious aircraft: 4 deliveries; 2 net orders
- Book-to-bill ratio for the year stands at 1.07
For fiscal year 2009/10
- Total current fiscal year 2009/10 aircraft deliveries expected to
be slightly less than fiscal year 2008/09 with approximately 10 per
cent fewer business aircraft, and approximately 10 per cent more
commercial aircraft
- Reduction of Learjet and Challenger production rates in response to
current market demand; as a result, manpower level is reduced by
1,360 or 4.5 per cent of total labour force of 30,000 workers
- Q400 turboprop production rate increased
- New aircraft programs CSeries, Learjet 85 and CRJ1000 NextGen
making excellent progress; recruitment continues for 830 new
permanent open positions for new aircraft programs and for the Global
Completion Centre
Bombardier Aerospace announced today that it delivered 353(i)
aircraft for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2009. This compares
to 361 aircraft deliveries in the previous fiscal year 2007/08 (year
ending January 31, 2008). It also received 378(i) aircraft orders,
net of cancellations, compared to an exceptional 698 orders, net of
cancellations, for the previous fiscal year. Its book-to-bill ratio
for the year stands at 1.07. Overall, Bombardier Aerospace delivered
a solid performance in view of the continued worsening of the economy
and its impact on the aviation industry.
For the current fiscal year 2009/10, Bombardier expects to deliver a
slightly lower total number of aircraft than last fiscal year
2008/09.
Tables at the end of this press release provide delivery totals and
net order totals for business, commercial and amphibious aircraft for
the previous fiscal year 2008/09.
"The industry is experiencing strong turbulence and we anticipate
more volatility in the short term. The fundamentals of Bombardier
Aerospace are solid, but we expect we will face more challenges this
year," said Guy C. Hachey, President and Chief Operating Officer,
Bombardier Aerospace. "While the Corporation has taken significant
steps to strengthen its operational and financial position over the
last years, we must continue to be prudent and take decisive action.
We will thus ensure our continued success over the long term and
maintain our leadership position by meeting our customer commitments
and by continuing to invest in our current and future products," he
added.
Production rates adjustment
In fiscal year 2008/09, Bombardier delivered 239(i) business jets
compared to 232 for the same period last year. It received an intake
of 262(i) orders, net of cancellations, compared to an exceptional
452 orders, net of cancellations, for the same period last year. The
company has felt the impact of the worldwide economic slowdown
through a greater than usual level of deferrals and cancellations for
its business aircraft and, as a result, is reducing its Learjet and
Challenger production rates. The book-to-bill ratio for fiscal year
2008/09 stands at 1.1.
For the current fiscal year 2009/10, Bombardier expects to deliver
approximately 10 per cent fewer business aircraft compared to last
fiscal year 2008/09.
For commercial aircraft, in fiscal year 2008/09, Bombardier delivered
110(i) commercial aircraft compared to 128 during the same period
last year. The order intake for fiscal year 2008/09 totalled 114(i)
aircraft, net of cancellations, compared to 238, net of
cancellations, for the previous year, representing a book-to-bill
ratio of slightly above one.
As a result of the rising demand for Bombardier's largest turboprop,
the production rate for the 78-seat Q400 aircraft is increased, while
the production rate for the CRJ Series regional jets remains
unchanged. Recent orders for Bombardier's Q400 NextGen turboprop
aircraft from Ethiopian Airlines and Colgan Air demonstrate
Bombardier has the right products for operators looking to take
advantage of its aircraft's competitive operating economics.
Bombardier expects to deliver in the current fiscal year 2009/10,
approximately 10 per cent more commercial aircraft compared to last
fiscal year 2008/09.
For amphibious aircraft, in fiscal year 2008/09, Bombardier delivered
four Bombardier 415 amphibious aircraft compared to one aircraft the
previous fiscal year 2007/08 and, received two orders for the
specialized Bombardier 415 MP, compared to eight orders for
Bombardier 415 the previous year.
New CSeries, Learjet 85 and CRJ1000 NextGen aircraft programs
progressing well
Bombardier's new aircraft programs, the CSeries, Learjet 85 and
CRJ1000 NextGen aircraft continue to make excellent progress. With
continued growth expected in the medium to long term, the market
needs new, innovative aircraft that provide operators with the
optimized solution to meet their business objectives.
Manpower impact
Bombardier Aerospace's long-term human resources strategy is to
establish stability in its permanent workforce levels by hiring
temporary workers mainly through third party contractors to provide
increased flexibility in periods of fluctuation.
Therefore, the decision to adjust the Learjet and Challenger business
aircraft production rates is expected to result in a total workforce
reduction of approximately 1,010 temporary workers/subcontractors and
350 permanent employees, or about 4.5 per cent out of a total
workforce of approximately 30,000 workers worldwide. The severance
costs associated with the manpower reduction of permanent employees
are expected to be less than $5 million.
The workforce reductions will take place at Bombardier Aerospace's
facilities in Montreal, Wichita and Belfast over a five-month period,
starting in February 2009. The layoff of permanent employees includes
unionized, salaried and management personnel.
A table at the end of this press release provides additional
information on the workforce reductions and the number of permanent
new open positions.
"These are very challenging times. The decision to reduce our
workforce was difficult to make and we fully recognize the impact it
will have on our affected workers," stated Mr. Hachey.
Bombardier Aerospace's overall employment numbers will remain
essentially at a similar level as recruitment for new permanent open
positions, mostly for the new aircraft programs, will partly offset
the reduction of 1,360 jobs. In fact, recruitment for more than 600
permanent new open positions for Bombardier's newly launched
aircraft, the CSeries and Learjet 85 aircraft continues, and
Bombardier is in the process of recruiting about 230 interior
completion specialists for its Global aircraft completion centre in
Montreal. The total number of permanent open positions is
approximately 830 at Bombardier's Montreal and Belfast sites.
About Bombardier
A world-leading manufacturer of innovative transportation solutions,
from commercial aircraft and business jets to rail transportation
equipment, systems and services, Bombardier Inc. is a global
corporation headquartered in Canada. Its revenues for the fiscal year
ended Jan. 31, 2008, were $17.5 billion US, and its shares are traded
on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). Bombardier is listed as an index
component to the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America
indexes. News and information are available at www.bombardier.com.
(i)Unaudited results.
Bombardier, Learjet, Challenger, Global, CSeries, CRJ, NextGen,
CRJ1000, Q400, Bombardier 415 and Bombardier 415 MP are trademarks of
Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.
TABLES
Fiscal year 2008/09 delivery totals
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Aircraft Deliveries(i) Deliveries
Fiscal year 2008/09 Fiscal year 2007/08
(Year ending Jan. 31, 2009)(Year ending Jan. 31, 2008)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Commercial aircraft
---------------------------------------------------------------------
CRJ Series 56 62
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Q-Series 54 66
---------------------------------------------------------------------
110 128
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Business aircraft
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Learjet Series 70 81
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Challenger Series 116 103
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Global Series 53 48
---------------------------------------------------------------------
(including those in the
fractional ownership
program(ii)) 239 232
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Aircraft
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Bombardier 415 4 1
---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Grand total 353 361
---------------------------------------------------------------------
(ii) An aircraft delivery is included in the above table when the
equivalent of 100 per cent of the fractional shares of an
aircraft model have been sold to external customers.
Fiscal year 2008/09 net order totals
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Aircraft Net Orders(i) Net Orders
Fiscal year 2008/09 Fiscal year 2007/08
(Year ending Jan. 31, 2009)(Year ending Jan. 31, 2008)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
CRJ Series 47 141
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Q400 67 97
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Commercial aircraft 114 238
---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Business aircraft 262 452
---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Aircraft 2 8
---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Grand total 378 698
---------------------------------------------------------------------
(i) Unaudited.
Impact on manpower level by sites
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
permanent new
Site Number of layoffs - Number of layoffs - open positions
permanent employees temporary workers/ for new aircraft
(approximate) subcontractors programs and
(approximate) Global
Completion
Centre
(approximate)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Belfast --- 300 100
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Montreal-area sites 210 500 730
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Wichita 140 210 ---
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 350 1,010 830
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total number of
layoffs related
to rate adjustments 1,360
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Contacts:
Bombardier Aerospace
Marc Duchesne
514-855-7989
www.bombardier.com
This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is
solely responsible for the content of this announcement.