Bombardier will deliver less than half of the CSeries family aircraft as expected this year due to production ramp-up delays by the engine supplier, the Canadian manufacturer says. The C Series jets contain 100 to 160 seats and designed for short- and medium-haul travel.
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On a consolidated basis, the company confirmed its 2016 revenue and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) guidance.
Bombardier says it still expects to produce 90 to 120 of the CSeries aircraft per year by 2020 but in the near term 2016 revenue will be at the low end of its forecast range, which is between US$16.5 billion and US$17.5 billion.
The company said the reduced CSeries deliveries will result in lower revenue for its commercial aircraft division this year, but that it still expects a “strong liquidity position” at year-end and remains on track to meet its 2018 cash- flow neutral goal.
“It looks like a short-term transitory issue”.
“We haven’t found that solution yet with them but the conversations are going on with the company and government”, said Philip Proulx. It did not reveal the source of the delivery delays, but stressed that the engine has performed well once it enters service.
“We’ve made significant headway in the supply chain, but there is some pressure on new engine deliveries for this year”, the USA -based company said in a statement.
Banda could not say how the pressure on new engine deliveries would affect other aircraft makers.
So far, P&W parent United Technologies has not changed full-year guidance for 200 geared turbofan engine deliveries spread across two production programmes – CSeries and A320neo – and three developmental efforts – Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), Embraer E2 regional jet and Irkut MS-21.
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Airbus has said it is receiving newly revised engines from Pratt & Whitney after delays caused by software error messages and slow start-up times. That was its best month for the latest version of its best-selling A320.
