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Bombardier: What Went Wrong and a Plan for Success

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First off, Bombardier needs to address the CRJ700/900, as they are inadequate for the 70-90 seat range. Thus, Bombardier should resurrect the old Fairchild Dornier 728 program, as the aircraft design was complete, and the only costs remaining would be to certify the aircraft, and possibly engineer a few flight deck and engine changes. Pending the availability of the bankrupt manufacturer’s blueprints, which this author believes should still be in their possession, this would be an easy victory for Bombardier. The cost for purchasing the blueprints would be much less than those associated with developing a new jetliner, and with their purchase they would almost immediately have a competing product to the E-Jets. This would give Bombardier a new, more competitive product for the 55-100 seat range, and would be the successor to the CRJ family. This would also bring the company a new business jet to their already very successful family, as Fairchild Dornier had planned a corporate version of each of their 728-series jets. With a similar range, weight, and yet a wider cabin, the resurrected FD-728 program would be the perfect competitor to the E-Jets, and although it would replace Bombardier’s CRJs, it would offer comparable operational costs towards the E-Jets, making it more attractive to customers.

Second, Bombardier needs to address their turboprop family. Preliminary research indicates that a larger, 80-90 seat turboprop could do very well in the market place, and thus, this author suggests the following for Bombardier. The company’s Q400 is already a very strong competitor, and doesn’t need to be changed. However, if Bombardier were to use the Q-Series platform for a larger turboprop, the new prop would probably be way too long for most operators, and would therefore be ineffective at tapping into the 80-90 seat market. Thus, in order to improve comfort as well as to more effectively hit the ‘sweet spot’ of the 80-90 seat market, Bombardier should use the FD-728 fuselage, and adapt

a new high mounted wing for use on the fuselage. By doing so, Bombardier could actually replace its entire Q-Series line up with a new, more comfortable turboprop, which would still offer very good economics. The development costs would be minimal, probably about $200-$300 million, because the only thing that would need to be designed is a new wing, as well as a slight shift in the fuselage to accommodate this high mounted wing. Engines could be the same as the Q400, but a new up-rated version would be needed to get the larger variant off the ground. This new series of turboprops would put Bombardier as having the best turboprop, as it would be more comfortable, have more range, and would most importantly offer the best economics.

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Written by Guest on 2007-10-24 17:12:19

Do you really think the Sr. Management had not considered the 728/928 before looking at the CSeries? There is a reason why the company went bankrupt.

Top Report....
Written by Guest on 2006-02-13 22:46:23

Your views and suggestions is worthy of submission, I see another suggest that you send this or this report link to them, they may employ you as their future problem solver /trouble PR Manager.

Good Article
Written by Guest on 2006-02-13 00:46:55

You should really send a copy of this to Bombardier. Resurrecting the FD728/928 program would be an incredible and bold move for a company that needs a boost right now.

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