MIRABEL, Que. — After delays and cost overruns, Bombardier's US$5.4-billion CSeries passenger jet has been given the green light to enter into commercial service.
The largest plane built by the Montreal-based manufacturer was formally certified on Friday by Transport Canada.
Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced the go-ahead during a news conference at the aircraft's assembly facility in Mirabel, north of Montreal.
"This is a big day," Garneau said. "Major projects like the certification Bombardier's CSeries don't come along very often."
The former astronaut said the milestone also sends a strong signal to investors and potential investors amid published reports that the company's executive chairman, Pierre Beaudoin, is expected to step down early in the new year.
Citing an anonymous source, Reuters reported out of Washington, D.C., that the move was still being finalized. Beaudoin was not at Friday's announcement.
A series of challenges prompted Bombardier to delay the CSeries' entry in service by Lufthansa-owned Swiss Airlines until the first half of 2016. Testing was halted for more than three months in mid-2014 after one of four test aircraft suffered an engine failure.
The larger CS300, with up to 160 seats, is scheduled to be certified and delivered to launch customer AirBaltic in September.
The 110- to 125-seat CS100 has travelled more than 150,000 kilometres or four times around the globe during flight tests since its first flight on Sept. 16, 2013.
Bombardier CEO Alain Bellemare, who replaced Beaudoin in the job in February, said developing the largest airplane ever made in Canada hasn't been easy, but he said the company is regaining momentum as airlines take a fresh look at the aircraft.
The company has high hopes that the plane's use of lightweight materials and fuel-efficient Pratt & Whitney engines will make it a long-term winner, especially in growing markets like China.
But the plane has been stuck at just 243 firm orders for more than a year, while there are very few delivery slots available in the initial years as it ramps up production to more than 100 planes a year in 2020.
Some of the 603 commitments for the plane are also in serious doubt. This includes Porter Airlines, whose conditional order is in serious doubt after Garneau said the federal government would not approve required changes at a small island airport near downtown Toronto.
Although more orders are required, Bombardier claims it's being selective about the airlines it courts. Among those rumoured to be targeted are big U.S. airlines like United and American.
Certification comes more than a decade after Bombardier first unveiled plans to build a plane that would compete directly with the smaller airliners from Boeing and Airbus. Following a pause, it was restarted in 2008 with the financial support of governments in Canada, Quebec and Britain.
The Quebec government recently committed another US$1 billion for a 49.5 per cent stake in the CSeries, on the same day the company took a US$3.2 billion writedown on the program.
Ottawa is reviewing a request for matching dollars.
Bombardier has said the government funding is reassuring potential customers who may have been concerned about Bombardier's financial ability to bring the jetliner to market.
