Bombardier investment launches Quebec into battle with aerospace giants: Don Pittis
Is challenging Boeing and Airbus a savvy investment or a waste of taxpayer cash?
Fred Cromer, president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, presents Swiss Airline’s new Bombardier CS100 aircraft. But delays in readying the CSeries for passenger service allowed giant competitors Boeing and Airbus to get a head start in selling into the same niche. (Reuters)
In some ways it feels like throwing good money after bad.
The same day that Canada’s leading transport manufacturer, Bombardier, announced $5 billion US in losses, Quebec taxpayers have invested more than $1 billion of their own in the company.
And despite a backlash from many Quebecers who think there are better things to do with a cool billion, the Quebec government may have made a smart investment in its future. But as Bombardier goes head to head with the world’s biggest aircraft makers, there’s no question it is a gamble.
- Bombardier loses $4.9B US while Quebec invests $1B US in CSeries program
- Quebec premier defends Bombardier bailout, angering striking teachers
In the short term it is a certainty that keeping Bombardier’s aircraft development program alive will be good for Quebec’s economy, specifically in terms of jobs.
“The government’s stepping in because there’s about 17,000 to 18,000 Bombardier jobs in Quebec,” says McGill University’s Bombardier-watcher Karl Moore. “When you look at the tier-two suppliers, there’s probably about 40,000 people in Quebec who make their living from Bombardier.”
Lots at stake
The CSeries is the biggest commercial airline Bombardier has made. It will have to go head to head with new aircraft just released by Boeing and Airbus that use the same quiet engine. (Bombardier )
But as usual with such investments, if it were merely a question of a few years’ worth of jobs, there might be a cheaper way to inject that money into the Quebec economy. There is much more at stake.
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