Bombardier Unveils New Global 5000, 6000 Cabin Theme

While the business aviation industry’s attention on Bombardier is largely focused on the progress of its new flagship Global 7000, the airframer has proved that it has no intentions of abandoning its smaller siblings, with the launch at the 2017 European Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (EBACE) of a Premier cabin interior for the Global 5000 and 6000.

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Bombardier Global 5000

Bombardier aimed its Global 5000 directly at the Gulfstream 450 and Falcon 900EX market. From a cabin-comfort point of view, it is right on target.

The new standard interior package is clearly intended to unify the Canadian airframer's expanding Global family. Unveiled on board the company’s Global 6000 demonstrator, the refreshed and refined cabin is now available on the two large-cabin twinjets. It offers many of the same streamlined stylistic cues as the clean-sheet 7000. Leather, metal brightwork, and hand-polished wood give a more “homelike” feel to the wide cabin.

“You’ll see a strong family resemblance between this aircraft and the Global 7000, which is deliberate,” said Tim Fagan, the manufacturer’s manager for aerospace industrial design. “One of the things we wanted to emphasize was creating a common look and feel across the Global platforms.”

While many in the industry might have anticipated such a move by Bombardier, it was a surprise that the company would make the introduction before the 7000’s entry-into-service, slated for next year. Bombardiery believes that when choosing among aircraft with similar performance, prospective buyers have become more sophisticated and are now weighing differentiators such as attention to detail in their purchase decisions. “We’ve developed our knowledge so much on the 7000 that we take this opportunity to bring it to the 6000—to have those benefits and a unified cabin experience across all of our platforms,” noted Fagan. “Our aim is that when we figure out something about comfort, we want it on all of our products.”

Bombardier turned to the high-end automotive industry for inspiration in its new cabins, as well as its own lessons learned in ergonomics and delivering human comfort, particularly in its next-generation of seating. Seats have evolved so much from the previous Globals that they are scarcely recognizable, according to Brad Nolen, the manufacturer’s vice president of marketing. Meant to juxtapose with the clean straight lines of the cabinetry, the seats feature soft, almost organic shapes with a higher backrest, giving better support to the shoulders and head. They have raised armrests to allow a more natural resting position, bearing more weight as a passenger shifts position. Cushion upholstery has been resculpted to increase and improve contact in recline between the lumbar area and seat back. The new seats also have a hard backshell to provide a more secure platform for the upholstery and redesigned stitching on the leather coverings, which are completed in-house at the company’s Montreal shop. Sharp-eyed guests will notice that same leather and stitching repeated on the control yokes in the cockpit.

The side ledge in Bombardier’s Premier cabin design is flat, in recognition of its role as functional space, able to hold personal effects such as notebooks, glasses, and phones. It also comes with embedded cupholders with nesting lids that hinge closed when not in use. The covers for the retractable arms snap shut, covering the stowage area that accommodates personal electronic devices and charging ports.

The newly revised divan offers the same recessed cupholders in its end cabinets, along with cabin-comfort controls, providing functionality for all seated positions. A credenza, echoing the 7000 design, continues the same simple clean lines. “We want these pieces to look like a piece of furniture that was purchased and brought into the home,” noted Fagan.

In the entrance galley and the lavatories, the design introduces the option of non-slip hardwood or natural stone tile flooring surfaces, which combine the homelike experience with easy-to-clean functionality.

The galley also received attention, with revised straight cabinetry lines, allowing the company to slightly increase storage volume. The rollaway doors over the kitchen equipment and bins now have a metal finish.

The package will include Bombardier’s Venue cabin-management system, which was introduced last year at EBACE. “On some other designs, when you ask the system to act, there can be a bit of latency before the action is shown in the cabin. But with a new fiber-optic backbone, it's really ultra-fast,” said Mathieu Noel, director of product strategy and design, who noted that the system has fewer components than previous systems. “It’s very reliable, because everything is redundant," he said. “We have dual-band Wi-Fi with dual Wi-Fi networks, as well, because it’s important that our passengers stay connected at all times to the cabin-management system as well as to the internet.”

According to Noel, the system offers tremendous flexibility, allowing any type of entertainment device or media source to run through a dedicated media bay in the galley area, with power ports, along with HDMI and USB inputs. Coupled with the fastest inflight connectivity through the optional Wave Ka-band system, which was introduced to Bombardier’s Globals last year, the system lets customers video conference, access the internet, and stream content through multiple devices virtually anywhere in the world.

As with all of Bombardier's aircraft, the Global family allows unrestricted access to the baggage area during flight, so passengers can retrieve personal items from their luggage anytime. The company credits its smaller wing (relative to the weight of the aircraft), wing slats, and its designed flexibility—especially around the wingtips—for delivering a smooth ride.

Overall, Nolen believes these features, coupled with the allure of the Premier cabin, will further enhance the Global 5000 and 6000, which list for approximately $50 million and $62 million respectively. “If you go back in business aviation 20 or 30 years, people were deciding what aircraft to buy based on how far it flew, how fast it flew, how big the cabin was,” he said at a pre-EBACE event, “But we’re getting to the point where the customers are starting to look at the finer elements of the aircraft, including smooth ride, noise levels, and fit and finish. That’s how people are deciding today between buying aircraft A or aircraft B, even more so than how far does it fly.”