aerospace / C Bombardier Commercial Aircraft Series Deal Regional Tipping Point? Bombardier has acted to secure the future of its flagship C Series, but the CRJ and Q400 families need some attention, too. By Kenneth I. Swartz he new alliance between Airbus and Bombardier has enhanced the credibility and viability of the C Series single-aisle com- mercial aircraft, but the jury is still out on how this deal will impact Bombardier Commercial Aircraft’s (BCA’s) other regional aircraft business. The C Series stretched Bombardier’s resources for many years, pulling man- agement attention away from marketing, selling and improving the CRJ regional jet and Q400 turboprop. Bombardier’s latest commercial aircraft fore- cast says 5,750 new regional aircraft worth US$240 billion will be delivered over the next 20 years in the 60- to 100-seat market. That’s a huge business opportunity, but Bombardier will face fierce competition T 26 SKIES Magazine | December 2017/January 2018 from Embraer, ATR and new competitors like Mitsubishi’s regional jet. To gain the upper hand, BCA needs to invest in product development (and per- haps sign on a new business partner) to reach a tipping point where it will capture a large market share. Program Milestones This year marks the silver anniversary of Bombardier’s purchase of de Havilland Canada (DHC) from Boeing (with the Ontario government) and the delivery of the first 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet Series 100 (CRJ100) to Lufthansa CityLine in 1992. In the first decade of the millennium, Bombardier expanded its portfolio with new derivative aircraft. The first high- speed, 70-seat Q400 turboprop entered ser- vice in 2000; the 70-seat CRJ700 regional jet in 2001; the 86-seat CRJ900 in 2003; and the 100-seat CRJ1000 in late 2010. High fuel prices and declining yields shifted airline demand to the larger air- craft, resulting in the last CRJ200 airline delivery in 2007 and Dash 8 Q200/Q300 delivery in 2009. Since 2000, Bombardier has delivered 1,375 large regional aircraft, split 60/40 between CRJs and Q400s, but has been outsold by its competitors in recent years. Market Dynamics Bombardier champions “right sizing” aircraft capacity to passenger demand to achieve high yields and profitability. The BCA 2017-2036 market forecast says the small regional aircraft (20 to 60 seats)