Getting mighty crowded

Bombardier seeks space in 110-to-135 passenger market

Bombardier Aerospace plans to enter the larger-size regional aircraft market with two new entries of 110 and 135 seats, placing it in competition with Boeing, Embraer and Airbus, reported Aviation Week magazine.

The new line of Bombardier airplanes will compete directly both with Boeing's 717-200, 737-600 and 737-700, and the Airbus A318 and A319. However, Bombardier officials and other manufacturers are looking to replace the almost 4,000 Fokker 70/100s, early McDonnell Douglas DC-9s and MD-80s, early Boeing 737 models and the British Aerospace 146 and Avro RJs in service, Aviation Week reported.

Montreal-based Bombardier is to expected present plans for a $2 billion aircraft-development program to its board of directors early next year. If the project is approved, first deliveries of the smaller version of its C Series transports could occur in 2010.

"We're taking this aggressive action despite the problems that the aerospace industry has been experiencing lately because we are convinced that this market is well on its way to recovery," Bombardier Aerospace president Pierre Beaudoin said in a Canadian Press report from the United Kingdom's Farnborough International Airshow in late July. "It's clear that the regional aircraft revolution is far from over. ... Any of us who think we can stand still in the next few years, I guess, for sure will not be at Farnborough in the future."

Currently, Bombardier envisions its new C Series aircraft to have a maximum takeoff weight of 123,000 to 151,000 pounds, a payload of 31,000 to 39,000 pounds, and a range of 1,800 nautical miles for the shorter-range 110-seat and 135-seat transports. The longer-range C Series 110LR will fly 3,250 nautical miles, and the 135LR's range is anticipated at 2,800 nautical miles, Aviation Week said.

Bombardier plans to install sidestick controllers, similar to those of Airbus, tied to a fly-by-wire flight control. The flight deck instrumentation will be state-of-the-art large displays, but the supplier of the avionics systems is yet to be determined. The engine to power the C Series will be selected by year-end, said John Holding, executive vice president for integrated product definition and planning.

Despite the announcement, Bombardier will be starting well behind Embraer, let alone Boeing and Airbus, in this market. According to Aviation Week, Bombardier hopes that improvements in total life-cycle costs, and cash operating costs some 15 to 20 percent better than existing aircraft, will give it an edge. However, Embraer is expected to begin deliveries of its 98 to 106-seat 190 jet in the third quarter of 2005, and of its 108 to 118-seat Embraer 195 in mid-2006.