One Reason CSeries Will Fly SoonerAirbus and Boeing have experienced a long list of delays on their new commerical aircraft, and many observers are expecting similar results from Bombardier. They probably ask themselves if the big boys are having so much trouble with their new designs how can we expect a smaller company to execute more efficiently?
Isn't it reasonable to expect Bombardier will mess up at least to the same degree and extent as Boeing and Airbus?
Maybe not.
Bombardier has made significant progress in terms of improving productivity and efficiency at its plants cutting costs and improving product quality, manufacturing time, productivity per employee etc...
One recurring problem for Boeing's 787 for example has been getting the engine manufacturer to keep up with development milestones on the rest of the project. Rolls Royce recently announced further setbacks on that score.
This creates an opportunity for Pratt & Whitney. It's their Geared Turbofan which lost out in Boeing's 787 competition to the Rolls bid. P&W was greatly disappointed with that loss at the time claiming they had the better product. And this is their chance to prove it. So, it's with no great surprise that we see P&W announcing the other day that they are meeting development milestones and testing requirements.
Of course, there are no guarantees C Series won't experience some delays. In fact, most programs involving large "clean sheet" designs do involve some setbacks. However, it's a situation Bombardier is working hard to bring together. As a smaller aircraft with a smaller array of international risk-sharing partners, they have a good chance of getting there with minimum delay.
And that could make a big difference.