Challenger 350 Buoys Bombardier Bizjet Deliveries in 3Q

Bombardier’s Challenger and Global business jet lines are “strong,” while Learjet remains "soft," company president and CEO Alain Bellemare said recently during a third-quarter investor conference call. “This is consistent with previous years, and it will look much the same going forward,” he added.

During the quarter, Bombardier Business Aircraft delivered 31 jets—four Learjet 70/75s, 13 Challenger 350s, four Challenger 650s, one Challenger 850, and nine Global 5000/6000s. This is down from 36 shipments in third-quarter 2016, which included three more Learjets, two more large-cabin Challengers and one more Global, but no Challenger 850s.

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Bombardier's Challenger 350

Though its predecessor has been a formidable competitor in the super-midsize market, this new model offers even more.

The company handed over 96 business jets in the first nine months, 13 fewer than a year ago. Bellemare said that business jet deliveries “are on track to reach our guidance of approximately 135 aircraft as we head into the seasonally strongest quarter of the year.” However, this would dwarf its 2016 deliveries by 28 units, meaning fourth-quarter deliveries are expected to be 15 fewer than last year.

While the business jet division’s third-quarter revenues sunk 17 percent year-over-year, to $1.095 billion, profits soared 11 percent, to $93 million. The division's backlog ended the quarter at $14.5 billion, nearly $1 billion less than a year ago.