Bombardier cutting 5,000 jobs as part of restructuring plan
The Canadian Press
General Aerospace Bombardier restructuringCanadian aerospace firm also announced sale of Q Series program for US$300 million.
Bombardier Inc. announced Thursday it will cut about 5,000 jobs across the organization over the next 12 to 18 months as part of a new restructuring plan.
The cuts are expected to lead to about US$250 million in annualized savings by 2021.
The company also announced the sale of what it called a number of non-core assets.
Bombardier has struck a deal to sell its Q Series aircraft program and de Havilland trademark to a subsidiary of Longview Aviation Capital Corp. for about US$300 million.
It also announced the sale of its aircraft’s flight and technical training business to CAE, and the monetization of royalties for about US$800 million.
“With our heavy investment cycle now completed, we continue to make solid progress executing our turnaround plan,” Bombardier chief executive Alain Bellemare said in a statement.
“With today’s announcements, we have set in motion the next round of actions necessary to unleash the full potential of the Bombardier portfolio.”
The changes came as Bombardier reported a profit of US$149 million or four cents per share in its latest quarter, compared with a loss of US$100 million or four cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totaled $3.64 billion, down from $3.84 billion a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, Bombardier said it earned four cents per share in the quarter compared with a break-even result in the third quarter of 2017.
Longview Aviation, the parent company to Viking Air Ltd., said once it completes its deal with Bombardier it will become North America’s largest commercial turboprop aircraft manufacturer.
The agreement includes the entire Dash 8 program, including the 100, 200 and 300 series and the in-production Q400 program.
“The Dash 8 turboprop is the perfect complement to our existing portfolio of specialized aircraft including the Twin Otter and the Canadair CL 215 and 415 series of water bombers,” Longview Aviation chief executive David Curtis said in a statement.
