Will Bombardier make the flight or miss the gate?
by heathercrawford ~ October 2nd, 2010. Filed under: Comm 101.
Montréal operated Bombardier’s latest project has been to develop the new C Series airplanes that will first take flight in 2012. However the first task of this challenging journey is entering into the large plane market and taking on huge competitor Boeing Air. The result of this task could either be an opportunity if Bombardier becomes hurdle into major leagues of aircraft manufacturing or threat if Bombardier’s new planes don’t take to the market, ending as a huge costly mistake. In order to avoid losing millions of dollars, Bombardier is focusing on older airlines who are looking to replace their aging planes, for inter-continental flights, with the new C Series airplanes that will cut operating costs, making their operating fleets more green friendly. This is a key strength for the company that is battling for the key airline markets of the future, mainly in China. An even greater opportunity for Canadian manufactures is if the new C Series is successful, Canada could be propelled into a tiny group of high ranked countries that build these large commercial aircraft, showing our ability to win in high global competition. Bombardier’s plan of working with low-cost countries for production of airplane materials is currently working but could hurt the company if another competitor decides to move in and start shopping in the same markets for supplies. Will Bombardier’s plans take off or end up crashing, hurting both their pocket books and Canadian manufacturers’ operations? One thing is clear that this ambitious project is filled with technical and logistical challenges on a scale few manufacturers have undertaken. Will Bombardier make the flight or miss the gate?