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On the Record With
PETER EDWARDS, PRESIDENT, BOMBARDIER BUSINESS AIRCRAFT
"My number one priority," says Bombardier Business Aircraft president
Peter Edwards, "is to enhance our service delivery."
Business has picked up now that the post-9/11 dip is history, and
Bombardier has begun to address problems that were becoming evident
even before the terrorist attacks.
During the high times of the 1990s, Edwards says, "our fleet size
outgrew our basic support infrastructure." The company was forced
to make "painful adjustments" in an effort to support customers.
The adjustments "frankly degraded our service delivery."
"We've got a very good plan in place," Edwards says, which has
included an already-effected switch to SAP parts management software,
and contemplation of more parts depots. Stronger relationships with
recognized Bombardier service centers figures in the overhaul strategy
too.
"There is no corner of our service delivery system that we are
not looking at," says the Bombardier boss. "We were the best service
organization for many, many years. We're going to be the best again."
Powering Bombardier's services overhaul is a return to good times
in the overall business aviation industry.
"We're in the best position that we've been in for a number of
years," Edwards says, as the pickup that began in late 2003 has
now proven to be real. "The market has shown continued growth through
the first half of this year and into the third quarter," he says.
"The market fundamentals are back in good shape."
Bombardier has had to raise production rates three times this year,
he says, especially for the Learjet line. "The downturn hit the
low end of the market earlier and harder," Edwards adds, explaining
that in larger aircraft, "people who had planned purchases merely
deferred them."
Edwards discounts the idea that buyers moved to smaller aircraft.
"The requirements for aircraft types are usually dictated by the
mission," he says.
"The upper end of the market turned back more quickly," he told
Show News, in part because savvy buyers of large aircraft
perceived a buyers' market and jumped back in.
Now, Edwards says, "prices have moved up across the board both
for new and used aircraft across the industry." Visit Bombardier
here at the show at Booth 13800.
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European Support for Challenger 300
Bombardier has received U.S. and European approval for the
new Challenger 300 business jet to be serviced under FAR Part
145 by Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services at Berlin-Schonefeld.
LBAS has also received Honeywell service center authorization
to support the HTF7000 turbofan engines powering the Challenger
300.
In related news, the Bombardier Training Center in Dallas-Forth
Worth earned EASA approval to the new Part 147 regulations,
allowing Challenger 300 customers to receive maintenance training
in Texas under the new European standard.
Bombardier is beginning deliveries of the 3,100-nmi, $17.85
million Challenger 300 to European operators, "making it the
first super midsize business jet to enter service" there.
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Triumvirate Deemed a Success
"Sporty, vital and irresistible"— "comfort and enduring
business acumen" —"stately and sophisticated"—these
are the descriptives Bombardier is using for its three aircraft
families: Learjet, Challenger and Global.
It's been two years since Bombardier reorganized its lineup
into the three groupings, and the company, according to unit
president Peter Edwards, is quite happy it did so.
"It's been very successful for us," Edwards told Show
News just prior to NBAA Las Vegas. "It's simple, and I
think a good branding strategy should be simple."
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