Detailed Design Just Beginning, Supply Chain Is Long

Boeing's top commercial airplane marketer thinks Bombardier may experience some of the same problems in getting the CSeries airplane out to customers as his company did as the Dreamliner fell further and further behind, and would not say whether he thinks the Canadian company's 2013 delivery projection for the CSeries is "realistic."

CSeries Bombardier Image

The assessment came from Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice president of marketing for commercial airplanes. While Tinseth said he thinks the CSeries is "a good airplane," he noted that Bombardier's bringing in new, untested partners, and the fact that they are just beginning the detailed design phase "adds risk to the whole program." An extended global supply chain was one of the factors cited in the Dreamliner delays.

The Montreal Gazette reports that Tinseth used as an example the underwing engine design of the CSeries, a first for Bombardier, on the 100-125-seat jet. "They're just starting the hard work now," Tinseth said.

Of course, the CSeries would be a direct competitor for Boeing's single-aisle 737, and Tinseth earlier this week forecast that the single-aisle market would account for the lion's share of $700 billion in sales over the next 20 years. Tinseth said Bombardier is "pushing into that market from the lower end" with the CSeries, and that the next generation 737 could have as many as 240 seats.

Bombardier has about 100 firm orders for the CSeries jet, and Pratt & Whitney has just begun development work on the geared turbofan engines selected to power the new airliner.  Company president Guy Hachey said the airplane is on schedule, and he's certain Bombardier can avoid making the same mistakes Boeing did with the Dreamliner.

FMI: www.bombardier.com, www.boeing.com