Bombardier at the topFrom Aviation International news
AIN’s product support survey for 2024 saw Bombardier rise to the top of all manufacturers with a full point improvement from 2023, when it ranked last in the business jet sector with a score of 7.6. The company’s 8.6 rating this year resulted from a strong showing in several categories, including a tie for first place with Dassault in warranty fulfillment with a score of 9.0.
Bombardier
After finishing last among the five business jet makers appearing in 2023’s survey, Bombardier became the top-rated OEM in the airframer category this year as it jumped to 8.6. Bombardier ranked first in cost-per-hour programs with an 8.3 rating, placing it six-tenths of a point ahead of the second-place vote-getter Gulfstream. It also had a strong showing (9.0) in aircraft reliability.
The improvements
Supporting an in-service global fleet of some 5,170 aircraft, Bombardier continues to work toward ensuring that operators consider the OEM their “first choice” for maintenance, modifications, and parts. In a recent interview with AIN, Bombardier v-p of product support Anthony Cox said achieving that objective starts with building the company’s network footprint with an ever-expanding team of 1,800 technicians.
‘We clearly have to focus on the customers where they need us, when they need us,” he explained. “So, we do a lot of studying of the demographic worldwide, and we consider our aircraft movements and our installed base. We study the maintenance requirements that are upcoming, and the parts that our customers may need. Those studies allow us to address each market with a suitable infrastructure, human resources or human capital, and any other technical abilities that we may need.”
Cox noted that Bombardier no longer suffers from the staffing shortages that virtually every maintenance provider experienced before the Covid pandemic took hold.
“Two years ago, I think we would’ve been pleased to see around 150 aircraft in maintenance throughout the network,” said Cox. “Typically, today, we have anywhere from 280 to 300 aircraft in work. So, in terms of market share, we continue to improve that. Market share is a result of the customers having a good experience, word of mouth, our expanded capabilities, our expanded footprint, and full OEM support.” Cox further reported that supply chain constraints have begun to loosen for Bombardier and generally industry-wide. However, some of the smallest sub-suppliers continue to suffer from a shortage of raw materials, for example.
“We still have some difficulties with a couple of partners who are catching up on raw material, but none of it [is] affecting our production line,” explained Cox. “The in-service market where we struggle is just with a couple of suppliers who make unique parts. They require certain equipment; they require finesse in the supply chain.”
“We’re working with those partners. We have about a hundred intervention specialists that we’ve deployed out to our various vendors. And their role is to assist the vendors in any shortages, make sure that we have a line of balance to support our aftermarket needs.”
Cox also noted that its proprietary Smart Link application has yielded significant returns, allowing for what he called a visualization of the aircraft health monitoring system. In a Global 7500, for example, the application generates thousands of parameters per millisecond to analyze potential problems ahead of landing, giving technicians alerts to ensure they have access to the needed parts.