November 2016
Bombardier’s flagship Global 7000 completed its first flight on November 4. The two-hour, 27-minute maiden flight from the company’s facility in Toronto was led by captain Ed Grabman, copilot Jeff Karnes and flight-test engineer Jason Nickel. The aircraft climbed to 20,000 feet and reached the planned test speed of 240 knots.
Bombardier announced that it delivered 36 business jets in the third quarter of 2016, down from 43 from the year-ago period. The aircraft included seven Learjet 70/75s, 13 Challenger 350s, six Challenger 605/650s and 10 Global 5000/6000s compared with seven 70/75s, 18 Challenger 350s, three 605s and 15 Globals in 2015. For the first nine months of 2016, it shipped 109 business jets, compared with 135 in the same time frame in 2015. Only Challenger 605/650 deliveries were up year-over-year during the comparative periods.
December 2016
Wing manufacturer Triumph Group sued Bombardier for $340 million, costs associated with the Global 7000 program. According to a January 5 notice to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Triumph filed the lawsuit in the Quebec Superior Court in Canada on December 22 over “Bombardier’s failure to pay to Triumph Aerostructures certain non-recurring expenses incurred…during the development phase of a program.”
January 2017
Bombardier tapped PPG to create a new aircraft paint effect for a Global Express XRS owned by Carrington Holding. Paint specialists at Bombardier’s Tucson, Arizona service center used a three-layer PPG topcoat system to create the “Carrington Pearl Blue” paint job. PPG paint experts in Mojave, California mixed the company’s Desothane HS 8000 topcoat to create Carrington Pearl Blue. The topcoat was applied over white Desothane HS 8800 topcoat in a graduated luminescent horizontal stripe on the fuselage, along with the vertical stabilizer's leading edge and across the engine cowling.
February 2017
Bombardier announced it delivered 163 jets in 2016, including 24 Learjet 70/75s, 62 Challenger 350s, 26 Challenger 605/650s and 51 Global 5000/6000s. This was down from 199 jets in 2015—32 Learjets, 68 Challenger 300/350s, 25 Challenger 605s, one Challenger 850 and 73 Globals.
March 2017
Bombardier Business Aircraft opened the Global 7000’s speed envelope to Mach 0.995, during a flight of Flight Test Vehicle 1 (FTV1, registered as C-GLBO) from the company’s flight test center in Wichita. The 7,400-nm twinjet was projected to have an Mmo of Mach 0.925.
May 2017
First quarter 2017 deliveries at Bombardier Business Aircraft slid to 29 aircraft, down two units from the previous year. Revenues also fell nearly 30 percent due to a more “unfavorable mix,” according to the company’s financial report. The company shipped five Learjet 70/75s, nine Challenger 350s, six Challenger 650s, one Challenger 850 and eight Global 5000/6000s in the quarter compared with one Learjet, 14 Challenger 350s, two Challenger 605s and 14 Globals in the first three months of last year.
The third flight-test Global 7000, FTV3, completed a 4-hour, 10-minute maiden flight from Toronto Downsview Airport on May 10. Piloted by Logan Lamping and Derek Thresher, the twinjet reached FL510 and 320 knots during the mission. Flight-test engineers Duane Moore and Matthew DiMaiolo were also on board.
Bombardier surprised EBACE attendees by revealing the Premier cabin interior for the Global 5000 and 6000. It offers many of the same streamlined stylistic cues of the Global 7000. The 7000 is expected to enter service next year.
June 2017
Bombardier delivered a special Learjet 75 to Leggett & Platt that symbolized two milestones: the 3,000th Learjet manufactured and the 100th Learjet 75 delivery. Leggett & Platt, a pioneer in sleep technology, is a repeat customer of Bombardier’s.
The Supreme Court declined Bombardier’s case against the Internal Revenue Service over the taxation of management fees charged by its former Flexjet fractional operation. In February, Bombardier had asked the Supreme Court to overturn determinations of earlier courts, which found that the IRS has properly taxed fractional operation management fees as commercial air transportation activities. The government argued that the lower courts properly sided with the IRS and dismissed Bombardier’s arguments of inconsistent and unclear guidance from the IRS.
July 2017
Bombardier Business Aircraft expanded the training capacity at its Dallas Fort-Worth Airport facility in Texas with a newly FAA-certified level-D Challenger 300 flight simulator. This simulator joined a Challenger 350 sim at the center, which now houses six level-D flight simulators, a flight training device, 21 classrooms and several part-task training devices.
The Global 7000 flight-test program surpassed the 500-hour milestone. Bombardier also confirmed that the first several customer aircraft were progressing through production, with four Global 7000s in final assembly at the Bombardier facility in Toronto.
August 2017
Bombardier delivered its first Learjet 75 to a Brazilian customer right before LABACE in August. The aircraft is a longer-range version of the Learjet 45 with Garmin G5000 integrated avionics, redesigned winglets and more efficient Honeywell TFE731-40BR engines. It also features a flat-floor cabin with an eight-seat double-club configuration.
During LABACE, Bombardier announced that expansion of its authorized service center agreement with Brazil’s MAGA Aviation to include the long-range Global Express and Global 5000. The facility has been authorized by Bombardier since 2013.
