Bombardier Sells CRJ Regional Jet Business

It’s the end of an era for one of Canada’s most iconic aviation companies.

Bombardier on Tuesday said it’s selling its iconic CRJ regional jet business to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan for $550 million USD.

Once a dominant figure in the Canadian aerospace business, the Montreal-based company last year announced it was selling its Q Series turboprop aircraft program to Longview Aviation Capital.

Bombardier not long ago formed a partnership with Airbus, which took over a majority share of the Canadian company and took over the CSeries aircraft, now known as the Airbus A220.

The CBC says the contract with Mitsubishi “stipulates that the Japanese manufacturer take over the maintenance, support, refurbishment, marketing and sales activities for the jets, including services and support facilities in Montreal, Toronto, Bridgeport, West Virginia and Tucson, Arizona.

“All in all, the CRJ business has about 1,600 employees worldwide. The plan is for Mitsubishi to keep about 1,200 of them,” the CBC reported.

“One key asset Bombardier is not selling as part of the deal is the main CRJ manufacturing facility in Mirabel, Que., along with the roughly 375 people who work there,” according to the CBC report. “The company will need that plant and those workers to continue to supply spare parts and manufacture the jets until the sales backlog of 42 jets has been cleared, which is expected to last until the second half of next year.”

The Globe and Mail reported that Bombardier chief executive Alain Bellemare is "setting a new course for Bombardier as a maker of private luxury jets and rail equipment as part of a five-year turnaround effort. The CEO has said he believes those business lines have a higher growth and profit potential."

“The CRJ family is Bombardier’s last remaining line of commercial airplanes,” the Globe and Mail story stated. “Divesting the business marks the end of 33 years of commercial aerospace history that began when the company bought Canadair from the Canadian government in 1986 for $120-million.”

The CBC’s story said the moves mean Bombardier now basically makes business jets such as Challenger jets and Learjets, as well as trains.

“The deal caps a multiyear overhaul for Bombardier, which until recently had ambitions to challenge Boeing Co. and Airbus SE with an all-new single-aisle jetliner,” Bloomberg News reported. “As the so-called C Series plane suffered from delays and cost overruns ... Bellemare unloaded that program and a turboprop line after taking the helm in 2015 and refocused Bombardier on business jets and passenger trains.”

"We are very pleased to announce this agreement, which represents the completion of Bombardier's aerospace transformation," Bellemare said. "We are confident that [Mitsubishi]'s acquisition of the program is the best solution for airline customers, employees and shareholders. We are committed to ensuring a smooth and orderly transition."

It may be good business, but for fans of Canadian-based companies in general and of Bombardier in particular, it’s definitely the end of an era.