Bombardier Order Book Swells to $20B with Deliveries Up

Despite a supplier “snag” that pushed a couple of Challenger deliveries into upcoming months, Bombardier delivered one more aircraft in the first quarter from a year ago and still finished the first three months with a historic 3.6:1 book-to-bill, the company reported this morning.

Bombardier handed over 24 aircraft in the quarter, compared with 23 in the same period last year. This reflected one fewer Global with 10 delivered and two more Challengers (12). Meanwhile, backlog jumped by $2.8 billion to $20.3 billion, representing 43% year-over-year (YOY) growth. 

“The first quarter of 2026 was a very strong start to the year for Bombardier,” company president and CEO Éric Martel said today during the company’s first-quarter results call. “We saw exceptional momentum on orders that gives us again and again trust in our strategy, in our people, and in our products.”

Bombardier reported a 5% increase in revenues in the quarter, to nearly $1.6 billion, thanks to growth in its services business. But reported EBIT was down 6%, to $167 million, with a margin of 10.4%, down 120 basis points. Even so, reported net income increased by 20%, to $53 million.

The company had its strongest performance for free cash flow in decades, reaching $360 million—a $664 million YOY improvement and one that Martel said was helped by progress payments from the expanding orderbook. As a result, Bombardier increased its free cash flow guidance to at least $1 billion, up from between $600 million and $1 billion.

While the company credited fleet orders for the bump in order book, Martel also noted that the orders from “traditional” customers alone approached a 2:1 book-to-bill. As for the fleet orders, he said, this gives visibility into its services business and production lines into the future.

Demand is strong across the product lines, he said, but added, “The Global 8000 is selling as fast as it flies.” Martel was confident that the broader market remains positive going forward.

“Customer engagement continues to be strong across regions and demands remain supported by fleet modernization needs, higher utilization trend, and a clear preference for high-performance aircraft, reliable platforms backed by a strong service capability.”

Demand is solid throughout North America but particularly strong in Canada with the pausing of the luxury tax, he said. But the only region where Bombardier is seeing activity slow (not stop) is the Middle East, Martel added.

The services business was a standout for the quarter, reaching $617 million and marking a 25% YOY jump as the company continues its quest for expansion in this area. “We’ve been aggressive in investing in that business,” Martel noted, adding that Bombardier continues to look for opportunities. “So far, it’s been paying off nicely.”

Helping to boost this business is the uptake from Global 7500s on the upgrade to the Global 8000. Martel said the majority of these customers want this upgrade, keeping the service centers busy. The transition from the Global 7500 to the 8000 on the production line was fully complete at the beginning of the year, he said.

The supply chain issue dampened EBITDA and margins, but Martel said the situation has been resolved and “we expect to progressively catch up over the coming quarters.” The company expects to meet its guidance for deliveries of at least 157 aircraft this year, at a minimum matching that of last year. He also viewed the supply chain as continuing to improve and was particularly encouraged by the engine manufacturers delivering everything they were committed to, giving confidence for its production outlook this year. “We are anticipating less disruption this year,” Martel said.