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Bombardier, which has successfully completed
engine run and low-speed taxi tests on the jet, said it will now
finalize the aircraft configuration and conduct more engine run
and high-speed taxi tests at its Wichita, Kansas plant in
preparation for first flight. The Montreal-based company recently said it would not set a
schedule for entry-into-service for the Learjet 85, its largest
Learjet yet, until it had flown the aircraft for up to two
months. Previously, the company had targeted first flight by the end of
2013 and entry-into-service by summer 2014. "It was a little bit challenging to get all the components done
and producible, but that's behind us now," Bombardier Chief
Executive Officer Pierre Beaudoin told analysts on a conference
call last week. "We feel very confident about our capacity to
manufacture this aircraft as anticipated." The first flight test vehicle, or FTV1, is complete and other
flight test vehicles are in various stages of fabrication and
assembly, the company said. Bombardier still faces headaches with its four-times delayed,
over-budget CSeries narrowbody jet, which will compete with
smaller planes made by Boeing Co <BA.N> and Airbus Group NV <AIR.PA>. The CSeries, which is not expected to go into commercial service
until the second half of 2015, will cost $4.4 billion to
develop, some $1.05 billion over original estimates. (Reporting by Susan Taylor; editing by Chris Reese) [© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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