What is Fractional Ownership of a Private Jet?.
Everything You Need to Know About Renting a Private Jet.He praised the area’s longstanding tradition of business aviation. “Wichita was the obvious choice as the home of our new US headquarters and Bombardier Defense,” Éric Martel, president and CEO, said during a ceremony this week announcing its new plans. Bombardier had three service hangars in Wichita about five years ago. It also said that it will continue to expand the service center for its Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft. It said that the US Air Force has ordered six Global 6000 jets as part of its Battlefield airborne Communications Node program. The company’s creation of a defense segment means that it will be modifying its Global and Challenger aircraft for military operations. This Global 6000 will be converted into a US Air Force jet as part of Bombardier’s new defense division.īombardier will focus on its midsize Challenger line and the long-range Global Express family, which, according to Masluch, “are more stable and have a predictable client base.” Those larger aircraft also carry much higher profit margins than the light-jet Learjet brand. Bombardier announced in February that it was shuttering the brand. After that, Learjet appeared to be flying on borrowed time.
Bombardier learjet series#
The project was announced in 2008, but after a series of production difficulties and cost overruns it was cancelled in 2015. Still, within the last decade Bombardier dedicated resources into Learjet, attempting to develop the mid-size, all-composite Learjet 85. People used to enter the market with a light jet and work their way up, but now, with the range needs and the amount of wealth creation, they go right to a mid-size or even a $60 million global jet.”Īt the same time, Bombardier struggled with accumulated debt, which drove it to sell off its C Series commercial jet project, its rail business, the de Havilland turboprop line and its aerostructures business, among other assets. “First it was city-to-city, then it became coast-to-coast, then trans-Atlantic, then trans-Pacific. “With each passing decade the needs changed,” says Masluch. The problem was even more acute than that, as the light-jet category in particular fell off. The Learjet 23 emerges in 1963, signaling a new era in personal transportation. In recent years, Learjet only delivered about 10 or 12 of those 700, so in that overcrowded market it’s a minor loss.” “But the industry as a whole is only delivering 700 jets a year and there are 34 models to choose from. “It’s sad from a historical standpoint, no one wants to see those storied brands go away,” says Brian Foley, an aviation industry consultant. The facility produced more than 3,000 jets and became a pop-culture touch point. He built a preliminary model in Switzerland, based on a Swiss fighter jet, before officially launching the company in Wichita.
Bombardier learjet serial#
Like Scotch Tape and Kleenex, Learjet became synonymous with an entire product category, a single-name stand-in that referred to a particular brand but broke through the public consciousness to serve as a generic term for any light business jet.īill Lear, a serial inventor who also dreamed up the first successful car radio, an early autopilot system and the eight-track tape player, got the idea for a private business jet in the late ‘50s. The brand was name-checked in Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” made appearances on The Dating Game and even showed up in the final episode of Mad Men. Danny Kaye had one later and even owned a piece of the company. The ceremony was the end of the brand.įrank Sinatra had one of the first. Surrounded by workers and executives, the last Learjet 75 was delivered to Northern Jet Management.
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