The severing of ties with Russia will not pose “an economic risk” for Bombardier, assured Éric Martel, CEO of the company, before the Council for International Relations of Montreal (CORIM) on Wednesday. Whoever is tasked with pulling the company out of its financial woes praised a now healthy flagship, focused on becoming a green leader in the business jet industry.
At the beginning of March, Bombardier decided to suspend all its activities with its Russian customers, including all forms of technical assistance for aircraft already delivered. A decision made “without hesitation”, quickly pointed out Éric Martel. Of about 5,000 Bombardier planes in circulation around the world, about 250 belong to Russian customers, he estimated.
“We do not foresee any consequences on our activities in the short term,” said the CEO of Bombardier. On the one hand, because the company does not have facilities on Russian soil. On the other hand, because the demand is “extremely strong everywhere on the planet” for business jets. “It will ensure that the cancellations that we will have from our customers or from Russian entities will be able to be easily replaced and compensated,” explained Mr. Martel in front of an audience of business people.
Despite the current geopolitical tensions, the winds remain favorable for the Quebec company which is celebrating its 80and anniversary and which, after divesting itself of its commercial segment of the C-Series, acquired by Airbus, and of its railway branch, sold to Alstom, now focuses solely on business jets. “Bombardier is currently experiencing […] its best financial situation in probably a few decades. We are really in a good position,” said Mr. Martel.
The pandemic, which has grounded the commercial aviation sector, has at the same time propelled demand for business jets. The CEO of Bombardier believes that many of the people who have tasted the comfort of business jets in recent months will continue to travel this way. “The size of our order book is impressive. It even becomes a problem, because we have no more planes for sale this year, even next year for several models, ”he illustrated.
“Last year, we made 6.1 billion US dollars in revenue. We will increase this figure to 7.5 billion,” noted Mr. Martel, emphasizing the company’s profitability. “What I can tell you is that we are ahead of our plan,” he said, conceding however that there is still work to be done in terms of the debt of the business.
The green plane of the future
Bombardier is currently working to define the basics of what the “plane of the future” will look like, whose “one-piece” design would reduce friction and thus lower fuel requirements, Martel told CORIM . Just by reworking the design of the plane itself, “you can reduce emissions by 17% to 19%,” he says. Other elements affect the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, he later added, such as the type of fuel used or the performance of the engines.
About 90% of the company’s research and development investments are currently aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of its aircraft, according to Bombardier. According to Éric Martel, the company is “on track” to achieve the goal it has set of being carbon neutral by 2050.