Founded

1942

Headquarters

Montréal

Key People

Éric Martel (President and CEO)

Number of Employees

60,000

Phone Number

(514) 861-9481

Website

Bombardier

Bombardier

A division of Bombardier Aviation (formerly Bombardier Aerospace), owned by Canadian industrial conglomerate Bombardier, Inc., Bombardier Business Aircraft manufacturers and provides ancillary support for Learjets, Challengers, and Globals, spanning the light to ultra-long-range jet categories.

In 1942 Joseph-Armand Bombardier, a Canadian inventor/entrepreneur, established a company to market his “snow vehicle,” or snowmobile. Four decades later, in 1986, Bombardier, Inc. expanded into aerospace, acquiring Canadair, which had developed the Challenger 600 series business jet (which begat Canadair Regional Jets). In 1989, Bombardier bought Northern Ireland’s Short Brothers; in 1990, it acquired the Learjet Corporation, whose midsize Learjet 60 first flew later that year; and in 1992, it purchased a majority stake in De Havilland Aircraft of Canada. The first of its ultra-long-range Global family, the Express, flew in 1996, followed by the Challenger 300 in 2001.

In 2014, amidst parent-company losses, Bombardier Business Aircraft became a Bombardier Aerospace division, as did the conglomerate’s commercial aircraft business. In 2017, Bombardier partnered with Airbus to market its resource-draining C Series commercial jets, and the following year it sold the Q Series commercial turboprop program, and its Business Aircraft Training division, to focus on business aircraft, aerostructures, and other transportation-segment opportunities. 

In December 2018 the flagship Global 7500 entered service. More than 4,700 Bombardier business aircraft are now in operation worldwide.

The company's business jets include Learjets (Lear 70/75 light jets); Challengers (CL350 super-mid, CL650 large cabin); and ultra-long-range Globals (Global 5000, 5500, 6000, 6500, 7500, 8000).

Bombardier-owned and -authorized service facilities and mobile response teams provide global assistance from AOG recovery to major repairs, overhauls, and interior refurbishments. The company also buys, takes in trade, and sells preowned Bombardier aircraft.