Global 7500 To Drive Delivery Increase at Bombardier

Bombardier Aviation is projected to deliver about 154 business jets this year, up from 142 aircraft last year, as it continues to ramp up Global 7500 production, Bombardier Inc. president and CEO Alain Bellemare said today during the company’s fourth-quarter/year-end investor call. The 2019 total included 12 Learjets, 76 Challengers, and 54 Globals, compared with 137 aircraft (12 Learjets, 83 Challengers, and 42 Globals) in 2018. It also plans to deliver six CRJs this year, down from 33 regional aircraft last year, as it exits the airliner segment.

Of the Globals, 11 were for the Global 7500, shy of the anticipated 15 to 20 the Canadian aircraft manufacturer expected to hand over to customers last year. Bellemare said a lag in aircraft completions was the cause of about a half-dozen deferred deliveries, adding that the outfitting bottleneck is being addressed. Thus, he expects the company to hand over 35 to 40 Global 7500s this year—about a quarter of all aircraft deliveries at Bombardier Aviation.

A year ago, Bombardier had estimated its aviation division would generate about $8 billion in 2019, but came up short at $7.5 billion, mostly due to the deferred Global 7500 deliveries. Profit at its aviation division nearly tripled to $1.194 billion last year, up from $424 million in 2018.

Bombardier Quits Commercial Aviation

Airbus and the government of Quebec now hold sole ownership of the A220 airliner program after Bombardier transferred its remaining interest in Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (Airbus Canada). The transaction, announced late Wednesday, marks the completion of Bombardier’s strategic exit from the commercial aviation sector.

The Europe-based Airbus group said that it now holds a 75 percent stake in the A220 joint venture. The government of Quebec is increasing its holding to 25 percent with any cash consideration being made.

Under a revised agreement, Airbus has an option to redeem Quebec’s holding in Airbus Canada in 2026, which is three years later than previously stated. Airbus’s Quebec-based subsidiary Stelia Aerospace has acquired work package capabilities for the A220 and A330 programs from Bombardier’s operation in Saint Laurent, Quebec.

This work will now be handled by Stelia Aeronautique Saint Laurent, which is a newly created subsidiary of Stelia Aerospace. It will continue to employ the 360 people working on these programs.

At the end of January, net orders for the A220 narrowbody stood at 685 units. Airbus said this represented a 64 percent increase since it took majority ownership of the program on July 1, 2018.

Tamarack Marks 100th Active Winglet Installation

Tamarack Aerospace Group marked a milestone this week with the 100th installation of its active winglets on a Cessna CitationJet at the company’s Sandpoint, Idaho headquarters. Company president Jacob Klinginsmith hailed the milestone as a demonstration of the company’s growth and leadership in winglet technology and aviation sustainability.

California National Guard pilot and business owner Larry McKoane, owner of the CitationJet, took delivery of the airplane following a 100th installation ceremony. “The reason we chose Tamarack winglets was primarily for performance improvements on the airplane that allowed us to expand our business capabilities throughout the West Coast,” said McKoane, president and CEO of Clawson Honda and Clawson Motorsports in Fresno. “We’re also looking forward to the increase in safety because if you fly into high-altitude airports in the summertime, the winglets are going to improve our safety margin substantially.”

The milestone comes as Tamarack works its way out of reorganization, which is expected early in the second quarter.

Airbus Delivers 332 Helicopters in 2019

Airbus delivered 332 helicopters last year and logged gross orders for 369 rotorcraft (310 net), combined with its support and services revenue, worth more than $7.61 billion. The company claimed 54 percent of the civil and parapublic market in terms of units for the year.

Orders included 130 and 91 for the H125 single and H145 twin, respectively. Military orders included 23 NH90s for Spain and 25 H225M heavy twins, mainly for the forces of Hungary and Indonesia. Also in 2019, the French armed forces announced the accelerated launch of the Joint Light Helicopter program, with deliveries of the Airbus H160M intermediate twin advanced to 2026.

Key support contracts inked last year were for the NH90 in service in the German Army, the Tiger; Cougar and Caracal contracts in France; and a five-year extension of the through-life support contract for the Australian Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) Tiger. On the civil side, 250 additional helicopters were covered by global HCare contracts.

“The increased contribution from support and services and key wins in the military sector in 2019 underlines the importance of our robust business model. The balance between our different revenue streams enables us to maintain our global leadership in a challenging civil and parapublic market,” said Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even.

Schubach Aviation Sees Younger Air Charter Demographic

In the past five years, San Diego area Part 135 operator Schubach Aviation has seen the average age of its charter clients move lower, from 62 in 2015 to 56 at the end of 2019. “When we really looked at the information, we realized we added more new clients under the age of 40, which prompted us to take a look at the numbers and look at our average age. And sure enough, every year it was slowly going down,” Schubach president and owner Kimberly Herrell told AIN.

This younger clientele wasn’t simply replacing a base of older charter customers, she added. “I wouldn’t say that older clientele are dropping off by any sense. It’s just that more younger travelers are joining the demographic.”

It’s not exactly clear to Herrell why her 29-year-old charter and aircraft management firm based at McClellan-Palomar Airport (CRQ) in Carlsbad, California, is seeing an increase in younger charter clients. It could be that there is a growing group of younger people choosing to fly private because they are wealthier. A Spectrem Group survey noted that, since 2014, the average age of U.S. investors with $25 million or more has dropped by 11 years to 47. “It kind of naturally follows, I think,” Herrell said.

Leonardo Forms New Joint Venture in Brazil

Leonardo and Brazil’s Companhia de Desenvolvimento de Maricá (Codemar) have created joint-venture Leonardo&Codemar S.A. to deliver urban security, new infrastructure, and helicopter-based services. “The joint venture will focus on delivering systems and services for the security, resilience, and protection of populations and territories and will prove how space, cyber and digital, aeronautical, and unmanned technologies can contribute to development,” said Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo.

According to the companies, the joint venture will provide innovative products and services to the Brazilian municipality of Maricá, which is set to become a primary logistic base for oil and gas operations nationwide. As such, it is a large potential market for related businesses, as well as a substantial tourist and residential development, facilitated by its proximity to Rio de Janeiro.

Leveraging Codemar’s local knowledge, the joint venture aims to partner with Maricá municipality on projects and services and gain access to similar opportunities throughout Latin America.

Indiana Genav Airport Plans for Runway Relocation

Facing the construction of a nearby city road, Indiana’s Freeman Municipal Airport in Seymour will soon embark on a major runway relocation project that will lop 1,000 feet off the northeast end of 5,500-foot Runway 5/23 and add 1,500 feet to its southwest end. The $5 million project, which will be paid for entirely by the city, will give the airport a 6,000-foot runway, which it believes will help attract more large private aircraft. As well, adjoining Taxiway Alpha will be extended by 1,500 feet.

While no federal Airport Improvement Program funds will be used in the project, the FAA issued its approval in December, and the window for contractor proposals will close at the end of this month. Airport manager Don Furlow told AIN that the winning bid will be selected next month and construction will commence soon after, with the project expected to last five months.

Furlow noted the general aviation airport will not close during that period, with most traffic being diverted to 5,502-foot Runway 14/22, which will also see some disruption during the construction of the parallel taxiway crossing. The project will also help pilots further differentiate between the two runways, which currently meet in a 90-degree angle at their southern ends, an issue that has previously caused the FAA concern due to the possibility of misidentification.

Pierre Gautier, ‘Father of the Concorde,’ Dies at 94

Though his name is not widely known outside of French aviation circles, aeronautical engineer Pierre Gautier, who died January 7 at 94, leaves his DNA all over the French aerospace industry. It started in 1954 with his involvement in establishing production of France’s Fouga Magister, the V-tail jet trainer that launched so many pilots’ careers in the French military. From there, Gautier moved to air transport on the Caravelle jet airliner project.

But his undisputed tour de force was his work on the Anglo-French supersonic Concorde project; an effort that won him the unofficial title of “father of the Concorde.” Beginning in 1965, he was the manager of the production program at Toulouse, France. Five years later he became director of the aerospace program.

In 1979, he turned his attention to smaller aircraft, becoming CEO of Socata (now Daher), which became famous for its line of single-engine piston aircraft. Gautier became the driving force behind the development of the TBM series of single-engine turboprops, now represented by the TBM 910 and TBM 940.

On the industry-support side, Gautier also served as chairman of the GIFAS general aviation commission.