Bombardier To Assemble Learjet 85 in Wichita

An agreement reached by Bombardier executives and Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson at the Farnborough airshow to secure Wichita as the final assembly location for the Learjet 85 was formalized on July 30. The agreement will retain existing operations and create a minimum of 300 new jobs at the Learjet facility. Bombardier said it will invest a total of $600 million in the Learjet 85 program in Wichita. The state will kick in $27 million in bond financing, which will be used to help build a new paint facility, customer delivery center and production flight-test facility, as well as to expand production hangars for final assembly of the midsize Learjet 85. All primary structural components of the all-composite Learjet 85 will be manufactured in Querétaro, Mexico. These subassemblies will then be shipped to Wichita for final assembly, production flight testing and painting.