First flight of the CSeries of Bombardier

[sn26567]

The first CSeries (I hope they find an easier name soon) of Bombardier was rolled out in a great ceremony a few weeks ago. Tomorrow (Wednesday) Bombardier will give an update about its first flight, including the date it will occur.



After the first flight of the A350, it will be a long awaited moment. Stay tuned.

[earthman]

The planes are called the CS100 and the CS300, not that difficult a name.

[Bralo20]

They'd better start selling some, otherwise it could be a quick ending story

[RoMax]

They'd better start selling some, otherwise it could be a quick ending story

With 177 firm orders, it isn't the best selling aircraft around. But they do have a significant amount of options and some conditional orders (including Porter Airlines, who is waiting for confirmation they will be able to operat a jet from Toronto City which currently only allows (turbo)props). Once these aircraft start flying and Bombardier can show real life data, I think more airlines will jump on it.

We are in a time that there are still quite some new E190/E195's and some CRJ-1000's flying around and more on order, many airlines are not in a rush to order the CS100 yet. The CS300 is attractive (the best selling of the two), but overlaps with the A319 on a lot of missions. The A319 will see a neo follow up, but there are only very few airlines ordering it (easyJet will continue the transition to the A320(neo)). Many older A319's will come to the market, making them attractive for airlines that don't have the money to buy or lease brand new CS300's. But for several airlines the CS300 still makes a lot of sense.

So they took a slow start in sales, but I do believe there's a huge market out there for these CSeries.

[sn26567]

Bombardier has announced that it now expects its CSeries aircraft to take to the skies by the end of July, or a month later than previously expected. Until today's announcement, many expected it to fly before the end of June. It is the second delay for CSeries after a previous six-month delay. Bombardier said it was extending the timeline to allow for additional software upgrades to improve the system.

Comment by Jon Ostrower of The Wall Street Journal: "The delay highlights the company's conservatism, both technically and in its marketing. All outward signs had pointed to the jet's readiness to fly by the end of June. The CSeries delay is minor compared to the years of delays incurred on jets developed by its larger U.S. and European competitors, but is a bruise to the company after trumpeting its own deadlines for months as evidence of its ability to perform on time."