Bombardier

Flexjet’s fractional jet ownership program recently announced it will become the launch customer for the Bombardier Learjet 85 currently under development. The initial order is for seven airplanes. “Flexjet is thrilled to offer its owners the first opportunity to experience private aviation at its very best aboard the all-new Learjet 85 aircraft,” Fred Reid, Flexjet’s […]

Learjet. It sounds fast and it is. This airplane has had a place in our aviation consciousness for a long time as the ultimate in speed, wealth, luxury and convenience. When first introduced by Bill Lear in 1964 it became synonymous with these things and more. Lear had bought the tooling for a Swiss ground-attack […]

Bombardier’s Global Vision flight deck has earned Transport Canada certification, marking the first such approval for the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion-based avionics system. The milestone clears a path for Bombardier business jets equipped Global Vision components to obtain certificates of airworthiness, said Bombardier vice president Stéphane Leblanc. “To date, we have completed over 600 […]

NetJets announced yesterday that it has agreed with Bombardier to buy 120 Global aircraft over the next many years. The deal, which is valued at $6.7 billion, includes firm orders for 50 aircraft and options for 70. Details on the options were not made public initially. The order includes Global 5000, Global Express XRS Vision, […]

“And then we’ll drop down to, oh … 15,000 or so and do some stalls if you’re up for it,” Learjet demo pilot Chris Barnett said casually during our preflight briefing. As a jet pilot for many years, I’ve tried to keep the words jet and stalls in separate corners of the universe. “Are we […]

Refining and redefining the super-light jet category.

Bombardier introduced two new members of its ultra-long-range family of Global business jets this week. And from the size of the party, it’s clear the Canadian manufacturer has confidence in the economic turnaround. The two new jets are each priced at $65 million (2010 dollars). The Global 7000 and Global 8000 are not scheduled for […]

There is no such thing as “normal” for new business jet sales. It’s usually a cycle of extreme highs and deep lows, with occasional periods when the market can’t seem to decide which of those two to choose. According to Bombardier Aerospace, the painful debacle from the past two years’ economic slowdown is showing signs […]

A look at the NTSB’s report on the February 2009 crash in Buffalo, New York.

The year was 1979. I walked into a gray and sterile office below the gates of the relatively new Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Less than a year earlier, President Jimmy Carter had signed the Airline Deregulation Act. Before the ink was dry on the document, Braniff Airlines was already expanding its route system. Before the ink […]