Story ID: 
Bombardier opens new service center in Dallas
By: AIN Staff
Caption: In an effort to improve its customer support, Bombardier has opened a new service center at Dallas Love Field and allocated shares equaling one Learjet 45 
Word Count: 352
In an effort to improve its customer support, Bombardier has opened a new service center at Dallas Love Field and allocated shares equaling one Learjet 45 from its Flexjet fleet to deliver aircraft-on-ground (AOG) parts and mobile repair parties within the U.S. and in some instances transport stranded customers.The 100,000-sq-ft expansion features a 52,500-sq-ft hangar along with 45,000 sq ft of back shops and office space. The structure represents an investment of about $17 million. Bombardier first set up shop at Love Field in 2000 to serve operators across the southern U.S., Mexico and Central America. The original facility was 43,500 sq ft, housing four Challengers and six to seven Learjets at one time. The new service center hangar can accommodate eight Learjets, four Challengers and two Globals. It provides enhanced avionics and interior services and contains a new lounge, private meeting rooms and additional offices for customers.Bombardier is investing another $25 million in additional parts inventory, focusing on the top 25 high-demand items for all current production models, stocked throughout its distribution network. Udo Rieder, v-p of parts logistics and services, said AOG off-the-shelf fill rates are more than 93 percent.The Canadian OEM will use Parts Express to deliver aircraft parts to in-warranty customers in critical AOG situations when the current shipping process falls short. Intended as a supplement to standard parts delivery processes and procedures, it will be deployed if a customer aircraft exceeds a 24-hour AOG. The company already has counter-to-counter delivery times in North America of less than 12 hours, which it says is substantially better than the industry standard of 24 hours.“Essentially, we have allocated shares equaling one Learjet 45, which gives us the power and flexibility, when required, of the Flexjet fleet to ensure critical AOG situations are addressed as quickly as possible,” said James Hoblyn, senior v-p for customer experience.Bombardier, which finished second-to-last ahead of only Sabreliner in last year’s AIN Product Support Survey, has two warehouses in Chicago and Frank- furt, Germany, and four depots in Montreal, Dubai, Singapore and Sydney. The company also plans to open parts depots in São Paulo and Tokyo this year.