Story ID: 029Oct17
Bombardier Bullish on C Series Delivery Target
By: Gregory Polek
Caption: Delivering all-new airplanes with reworked PW1500G combustors, Canadian airframer confident it can produce another 19 examples by year-end 
Word Count: 498
Bombardier has taken delivery of the first Pratt & Whitney PW1500G geared turbofans fitted with upgraded combustors for the C Series single-aisle airliner as the Canadian manufacturer prepares to accelerate production during the second half of the year in an attempt to deliver some 30 airplanes. Bombardier has shipped just 11 CS100s and CS300s to Swiss International Airlines and Air Baltic this year; the companyadjusted its delivery ambitions slightly downward from an earlier estimate of between 30 and 35 to account for supply chain interruptions, mainly involving engine supplier Pratt & Whitney.

“We’ve always said that our 2017 [deliveries] would be skewed toward the back end [of the year]," C Series program office director Istifan Ghanem told reporters at a briefing at Bombardier’s production facilities in Mirabel, Canada, last month. “So we’re meeting that plan...There will be a lot of deliveries at the end of the year, but we’re working to plan. Pratt is aligning with that production plan.”

Although Bombardier Commercial Aircraft president Fred Cromer did attribute much of the early “lumpiness” in program execution to Pratt & Whitney’s difficulties, he noted that Bombardier hasn’t gone through a unique experience with the C Series, given the complexity and ambitious nature of the program. “One of the challenges that we as a manufacturer and an assembler face is orchestrating that same ramp-up at all the various suppliers that are part of the program as well, and different suppliers are at different levels of learning, different levels of maturity in supporting us,” said Cromer. “But we do see the right amount of resources, the right amount of investment coming through the supply chain at every one of our suppliers, and we’re on top of every one of them to make sure that we get to that point of harmonization sooner rather than later.”

Notwithstanding Bombardier’s early internal production challenges, the 18 C Series jets now in operation in some respects have performed better than advertised, said Ghanem. During his presentation of a technical program update in Mirabel, Ghanem reported that Swiss and Air Baltic have seen their airplanes burn 3 percent less fuel than brochure values promise. Utilization has peaked at 17 flight hours a day, and Swiss flies its airplanes on up to 10 legs a day. Finally, after 20 A checks performed since the first CS100 entered service roughly a year ago, operators have reported “no findings” in terms of maintenance irregularities, said Ghanem.  

Together, Swiss and Air Baltic now fly the C Series on 100 routes, among them London City Airport to Zurich by Swiss. Next, Korean Air expects to take the first of 10 CS300s on order “in the coming months” or some time this fall, reported Ghanem. In the process of painting the second Korean Air airplane, Bombardier has gained certification from Korean civil aviation authorities and now participates with the airline in delivery preparations such as pilot training.

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