“Air Canada is to be complimented for its commitment with this announcement and it’s a testament to our 4,500 members at Bombardier”.
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“If the auto industry has been supported by taxpayer money, which is fine, then the aeronautical industry of Montreal needs also to be supported”. The UK cuts will mainly fall in Northern Ireland, where Bombardier is one of the largest industrial employers, and will result in about 20pc of its workforce there being made redundant.
No job losses are anticipated at the company’s commercial aircraft business segment, which supplies airlines with passenger planes including the new CSeries jets, which Bombardier has had trouble selling.
UTV’s Business Editor Jamie Delargy said the company has found itself in a “dreadful position” over the C Series.
The plane maker also announced a reverse stock split, confirming a report by Reuters that said it would consolidate its shares to prop up the sagging stock, which has traded below $1 since late January, its lowest in 25 years.
“We are turning Bombardier around to make this great company stronger and more competitive”, said Alain Bellemare, President and Chief Executive Officer, in a statement. To date, in the case of United, the airline has signaled that it could place an order for up to 50 CS100, while Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson commented that the Atlanta-based carrier is “taking a very serious look” at purchasing the aircraft. The option for 30 additional CS-300 aircraft could add as much as $2.5 billion to the deal.
“We are continuing our dialogue with Bombardier on its request for federal assistance”, said innovation minister, Navdeep Bains, in a news release.
It reads: “Bombardier announced today that it will take steps to optimize its workforce with a combination of a manpower reduction and strategic hiring throughout 2016 and 2017”.
Bombardier ended the fourth quarter with a loss of $677 million, or 31 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $1.59 billion, or 92 cents. During 2015, the company burned through US$1.8 billion, including net interest charges and income taxes. Revenue fell 16% year over year to US$5 billion, trailing estimates of $5.5 billion.
From 2018, also, Bombardier will be able to offer increases in the Q400’s A-Check and C-Check scheduled maintenance intervals from 600 and 6,000 flight hours respectively to 800 and 8,000 flight hours.
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Since receiving the cash injection from Quebec, Bombardier’s stock had fallen 40 percent to a record low of 72 Canadian cents (US$0.52) on Friday.
