Bombardier Global 7000 Powers On

Bombardier took another step toward bringing its Global 7000 to market with engine power-on, marking one of the final major milestones before first flight. The company would not specify when the power-on of the aircraft’s GE Passport engines occurred, saying only that it was "recent." However, Bombardier did confirm that this milestone keeps the program on track for first flight this year as it strives for market entry in the latter part of 2018.

Bombardier president and CEO Alain Bellemare, in announcing that first flight would take place this year, had told analysts in August that with certification of the C Series CS100 and CS300 wrapped up, “now all hands are on deck on [the] Global 7000.” In July last year, Bombardier pushed back the timeline for the 7000 by two years as the company struggled to manage cash flow among several major new development programs, including its C Series.

Engine power-on follows U.S. FAA certification of the 16,500-pound-thrust Passport engines in April. Bombardier formally registered the first 7000 in late August. The experimental aircraft, S/N 70001, carries the registration C-GLBO.

Bombardier last summer also had reported that all other Global 7000 flight-test vehicles were in various stages of production.