Bombardier will loose the United Airlines deal

SUMMARY: Bombardier finally sees that “aggressive” pricing for the CSeries is a must, as the “game changer” has no new order since September, 2014 and it is now perfectly clear to all that the fuel efficiency of the CSeries will be closely matched by Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, Comac and Irkut as they will all incorporate new generation fuel efficient engines in their new aircraft programs. This year, 2016, is the make it or break it year for Bombardier, all eyes are on sales, EIS (entry into service) and production ramp up, 12 months from now the future of the company will be clearer, one way or the other. The CSeries has now lost its main competitive advantage, its value proposition (most fuel efficient airliner) and like all the others it will have to seriously discount it’s price to win any new order, and it is not prepared or capable of waging a price war. A major price war is looming as the duopoly of Airbus and Boeing, will not only have to deal with Bombardier’s CS100/300 and Embraer’s E195-E2 at the low end, but head on competition from China’s Comac C919 and Russia’s Irkut MC-21narrow-body airliners as well within the next 5 years. It is going to get ugly for Bombardier, as surely it “hopes” that Airbus and Boeing will not continue with the slow selling A319neo or Boeing the Max7 programs (a segment that is NOT very big, and was overestimated by many), but the duopoly will stay in the segment, for if anything, just to make sure Bombardier does not get a foothold in the BIG league of commercial aircraft. A price war with the likes of Airbus, Boeing and the Chinese and Russian Governments spells disaster for Bombardier in the long run, it cannot sustain regular discounts of +40% and continue as a going concern, they just cannot compete on price at this level, where even today before the new entrants arrive, discounts of 50% from List Price are ‘common’ from Airbus and Boeing on large orders . The current United Airlines requirement for 30 new 100+ seat jets will be an example of what is to come, as United is a huge Boeing customer, with 310 x B737’s (700/800/900’s) in service today and another 100 B737Max9’s on order, there is NO way hell, Boeing will allow Bombardier to win over this customer, and the deal will probably go for $US 40+/- million per unit (50% off List Price) for the B737-700 as the NG line still needs to be filled before the MAX line takes over,. To win with United Airlines, Bombardier will be required to offer a huge discount on the $US 71.8 million CS100 and the $US 82.0 million CS300, that it would create a huge loss for the company, as it has no way of getting that loss back from its product line (unlike Airbus & Boeing that delivered 1,397 aircraft in 2015) yet a major North American order for the future success of the CSeries is a MUST if the program is to have a future. Bombardier unlike the duopoly, will have a low production rate of 10 units per month by 2020, not enough to spread its costs/losses, while the duopoly is planning on producing 122+ A320/B737’s per month by 2018, a greatly reducing unit costs, and they will fight to keep Bombardier out of it’s “turf”, especially after it announced it may go with the larger CS500 (165+ seat) jet down the road, a direct challenge to the A320/B737. Anyway, Airbus believes the CSeries will become an “orphan” aircraft, “a nice little plane”, that was probably forever doomed to be a poor seller, and Airbus should know, they were the first OEM Bombardier went to, in their attempt to sell the program last year ! All the indications are there that the market is not there, up-gauging of aircraft, low sales in the 100-150 segment by all to a lack of interest from lessors. Lastly, while the CSeries will have to deal with the duopoly, the $75 million a piece Global G7000 business jet will also have to deal with the duopoly if it plans on selling a lot, as the ACJ319/320 (Airbus Corporate Jets) and the BBJ (Boeing Business Jets) are in the same segment, a segment that has averaged only 16 units a year for the past 18 years, so the G7000 may sadly not be the “game changer” either.

I have been quiet for awhile on Bombardier, watching what will unfold, with a heavy heart, seems that the new year is not going to be much better than last year, when Bombardier’s stock (TSX:BBD.B) lost 60.9% of its value, ROI (return on investment) was -44.0% and market capitalization is down to $2.51 billion, cash … Continue reading →