Jetrader - September/October 2009 - 11

bumps in the road—these potential protectionist policies—in the long run, you’ll ﬁnd that the carriers that are truly ﬂying internationally, eventually, they always get the products they need. That’s when you, as an OEM, have to rely on the product that you know you can design and build. J: Why did Bombardier select aluminum-lithium for the CSeries instead of a full-carbon fuselage like the 787 or your own Learjet 85 that you’re developing right now? BB: Really, it’s a result of a long trade study. What you have with the CSeries is an airframe that’s going to ﬂy anywhere between eight to 13 missions per day, assuming an hour or an hour-and-a-bit per ﬂight. In between those eight to 13 missions a day, it’s going to be sitting on the ground, being serviced in one way or another. That airplane going to be subjected to more potential ramp rash and potential damage. One of the ﬁrst things we did in the lifecycle costs study, is we realized that you have to make an airplane that you can turn around and repair really quickly. We did not, and we still do not, have conﬁdence that you’ll ever be able to do that with carbon ﬁber. Aluminums and aluminum alloys, we know the damage properties of them, we know how to test them. We know how to repair them; every airline knows how to repair them, so what you really want is a stronger alloy. Also, we tested and determined that for an airplane that is a ﬁve-abreast-diameter fuselage, versus an airplane that is a nineabreast-diameter fuselage, the strength properties of composite with that larger diameter are signiﬁcantly different than the strength properties with a much smaller diameter, like the one we need for the CSeries. As a result, in order to withstand the impact-strength requirements needed of all airplanes, whether big or small, we actually wouldn’t have saved that much weight by going with composites. So, you’ve got an airplane that you want to be user friendly on the repair-ability side, and you’re not gaining that much from weight because of the composites. We estimate that we may have sacriﬁced, at most, one percent of weight by not going composite. To tie all that together, you don’t know how to repair it, you’re not saving that much weight, and with aluminum-lithium, you get almost the same corrosion protection that you get with composites, and its ability to withstand cracking is greater than current aluminums. When you put all that together, it becomes a no-brainer; you build your airplane out of aluminum-lithium instead of composites. J: Residual values of larger commercial passenger jets beneﬁt largely from a possible afterlife as a converted freighter while regional jets have historically struggled to maintain a steady residual value. What is Bombardier doing to improve future residual values of the current CRJ NextGen and future CSeries? BB: Let me start with the CRJs. My teams are working very hard at the life and fatigue testing of the CRJ; we’re fully committed to keeping that going, always staying ahead of the ﬂeet leader. As for the secondary market for this airplane—the customers taking this airplane away from the primary owner—have full conﬁdence that Bombardier is behind it; they’re getting the modiﬁcation drawing, the kits, the know-how to keep that plane ﬂying so they don’t have to rely on themselves or be held hostage to some STC or MRO facility. Second of all, most parts of our NextGen, parts our future developments for the CRJ, be they navigation upgrades, structural upgrades or performance upgrades, all are retroﬁttable. We make that a big priority for ourselves. Third, we have a whole group of people inside Bombardier Commercial Aircraft who are out there to ensure and help the banks realize that an airplane coming out of Delta or Northwest or Lufthansa, or whomever, doesn’t sit around for long. Those airplanes, be they CRJs, Q Series or turboprops, they sit on the ground for a little bit until the word gets out that they’re there, and they quickly get reconﬁgured and they get moved out somewhere else. We have a holding list, or waiting list, for all of our turboprop products right now, and we’ve got a strong interest level in all of our products on the CRJ side, as well. They’ll be supported long term into the future by Bombardier and its teams. When it comes to the new-development planes, such as the CSeries, for example, we’ve already taken a number of these lessons into account. We’ve already worked on some key, what I call, stay-out zones on the airplane that would allow the installation of a forward, upper-deck cargo door; it’s not something where someone, later on, is going to have to cut major cabling—it’s already designed so that there isn’t any cabling in that spot. We’ve done some preliminary work on the ﬂoor structure to make sure that it could hold a full cargo area, and from the standpoint of the longevity, the range and capability of the airplane put it on par with the DC9. Our initial testing of the airplane will be to the full 80,000 cycles, the same as our other products, so right there alone you’ve got 20-plus years of useful life with the ﬁrst or second customer. J: Is there anything else going on that you’d you like to share? BB: Sure. I want to highlight three quick facts that I think are important to recognize. One is, don’t write off turboprops— expect another brother or sister for the Q Series in the future, and watch those products as they move into newer and newer markets. The second is that the CRJ market is strong; the CRJ future look is very strong, and Bombardier will be standing behind its products—the ones that are already in service and continue to improve them, keep their residual values high, keep supporting them, making sure that these products get homes, be that second or third homes. Last, but not least, I’d say that now is the time to start really looking at the CSeries. It’s the product of Bombardier’s future; it’s the product of the lower end of the entire commercial aircraft mainline market; it’s the product to beat for the future. I’d also want to remind everyone that this is an airplane that is being built and designed that satisﬁes any type of carrier’s needs. It can ﬂy into London City and make a direct ﬂight to Moscow; it can ﬂy from the Vail/Aspen/Eagle, Colorado, and go direct to Chicago nonstop; it’s the kind or airplane that has fuel burns lower than smaller airplanes currently in service, and the Pratt & Whitney engine is the one and only for the next ten, if not more, years to beat. Everything that we’re seeing from the competitors is saying that no one else is going to even be close before 2020. If people want to get in on the game-changing revolution, now is the time. Jetrader 11

Jetrader - September/October 2009

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