Bombardier Waiting For Orders; Embraer Says No Thanks

When you're speaking of airliners with between 110-150 seats, it's good to be Boeing and Airbus. Both manufacturers have had a lock on that segment of the short-haul market since McDonnell Douglas exited, stage left, in 1997. With the last Boeing 717 (nee MD-95) delivered last year, however, it appears the market for smaller 'full-sized' airliners isn't what it used to be.

But is there room for more players in that segment? The two largest manufacturers of so-called "regional jets," Bombardier and Embraer, are taking different approaches to answering that question -- with the one commonality being an abundance of caution.

First, Bombardier. The French-Canadian planemaker causes quite a stir when it announced its 130-seat C-Series jet (above) in March 2005. The manufacturer received even more attention seven months later, when it put those plans on hold due, in part, to the disheartening financial climate for several US airlines -- most notably Northwest, whose large fleet of aged DC-9s is slated for retirement... someday. Many view the C-Series as a natural replacement for those storied planes.

Airlines are in better shape today... but Bombardier still isn't ready to commit to restarting development on the $2.1 billion project just yet. For the moment, the company "will continue to refine" its business plan for the C-Series, according to Bombardier Aerospace president and COO Pierre Beaudoin.

"The decision process related to the launch of an aircraft program with more than a 20-year lifespan takes time and requires a well-defined business plan to ensure the program's long-term success," Beaudoin said in a release to ANN. "As we have previously confirmed, the C Series plan includes international partnerships, and discussions are progressing."

Beaudoin added that despite the cautious nature of his comments, Bombardier "continue[s] to see the lower end of the 100- to 149-seat market as a segment with a solid potential."

Nonetheless, the company has also pushed off the C-Series EIS date to 2013 at the earliest, three years later than originally planned. Bombardier chairman Laurent Beaudoin has commented in the past the company won't formally commit to the project until it has firm orders in hand.

Meanwhile, down in Brazil rival planemaker Embraer vigorously denied reports it plans to launch a C-Series-sized plane of its own, with as many as 140 seats.

"We're not studying this kind of airplane," said Embraer spokesman Pedro Ferraz to the Montreal Gazette. "We're not developing in this range. "We don't want to go there."

Embraer's largest plane, the E-195, can already seat as many as 118 passengers, Ferraz added... reiterating the company does not want to go up against midsized versions of the Airbus A320 family, and Boeing's 737.

FMI: www.bombardier.com, www.embraer.com