Q1 revenue generator and future ordersDelivery while important every quarter is more heavy at the end of the year. Q1 its about after market sales and support. We should see this division bring in high revenue. Q1 in general are slow for bizz jet travel and is used to catch up on maintenance and upgrades during low frying period.
Backlog growth might be soft for Q1, as big orders generally come from industry industry events which are usually during summer time and at NBAA later in the year. Keeping Backlog above 1.0 is also crucial. But keeping backlog 1.0 and higher can be done by reducing delivery numbers. This is a common practice in the industry to keep constant supply of work. Backlog numbers are easy to misread as well. When Bombardier delivers more then expected jets in a quarter then the backlog ratio will shrink unless they took in same number of jet orders.
At the end its all about positive cash flow. Ordere will increase and decrease as long as Bombardier can make money. And aircraft flying will need constant maintenance intervention which for Bombardier is aftermarket sales and support. Bombardier only makes cash one time on new aircraft at time of sales. But aftermarket will bring in revenue everytime the airplane needs maintenance (parts) and upgrades.