Bombardier CSeries jet completes maiden flight

It took almost 10 years and about $3.5billion, but Canadian company Bombardier's much-anticipated new commercial jet, the CSeries, successfully completed its maiden flight Monday.

The gleaming white CS100, whichBombardier promises will be larger, quieter and more fuel efficient than anything in its commercial fleet, lifted off the runway at Mirabel airport north of Montreal shortly before 10 a.m. ETas hundreds of Bombardier employees, suppliers and invited guests looked on. It returned to the airport about 2hours later.

• Take an in-depth look at the CSeries jet

The test flight had initially been scheduled for the end of 2012 and was delayed several times.

The business jet was accompanied by a Global 5000 chase plane, which took a first passalong the flight route before the CSeries jet took off, and then flew parallelto it in orderto convey any observations to its two pilots and flight engineer.

During the test flight, the jet stayed within about 48 kilometres of the airport, flying north toward Morin Heights and looping back around. It reachedan altitude of 3,800 metresand a speed of 425 km/h.

"Its a very emotional day for all of us at Bombardier," said companypresident and CEOPierre Beaudoin. "It takes a long time to develop an airplane; some [people] have been working on this for 10 years."

Guy Hachey,president and chief operating officer of Bombardier's aerospace division, admitted he shed a few tearswhen he saw thejet that Bombardierhopes will better position it to compete against its main rivals, Boeing and Airbus,quietly liftoff from the runway.

"It's really a historic moment for us," Hachey said.

"When you consider how long it's been since the last narrow-body [plane] has been launched around1986 it's a very special moment in the industry."

Flew according to predictions

Chief test pilot Chuck Ellis told media after the flight that it was hard to describe howit felt to fly the plane because it performed pretty much as he and his colleagues expected it would based on the years of simulations,computational models and wind tunnel and other tests they had done.

"In many ways, we didn't learn anything new; we validated everything we did know," he said.

Ellis, his first officer,AndrisLitavniks, and flight engineerAndreas Hartonoperformed a set of tests during the flight and noted only minor differences from howBombardier's engineers predicted the jet would behave, Ellis said.

"The best thing we can say about an airplane is it flew just like we expected," he said.

The pilot and crew received only one"advisory message" about one of the plane's sub-systems during the flight, but Ellis said it related to a minor issue that did not affect the plane and would not have halted a commercial flight, for example. He did not specify the nature of the warning.

More test flights to come

The test flight was only the first of many for the CS100 and the other four models planned for production in the CSeries family of commercial jets, which will range in size from 100 to 149seats. The jets are at various stages of assembly, with the first ones expected to be delivered to customers in about12 months.

Bombardier promises that the CSeriesjet, which is made oflightweight but strong composite materials and hasPratt &Whitney engines, will be quieter and more fuel efficient than existing commercial jets but that remains to be confirmed in more exhaustive tests that will be performed during a series of additional test flights in the coming months.

Bombardier says the CSeries jets will be 15 per cent less expensive to operate and burn 20 per cent less fuel than a similar sized plane currently in service, but those parameters were not all put to the test Monday.

In many respects, Monday's testwas a "failure case," Ellis said, because the crew did not pushthe plane to the full extent of its capabilities, operating the engines at reduced thrust and using a longer runway than the jet could handle.

One of the promised features that did come across in dramatic fashion was how quiet the jet's engines are.

"Some of the people actually missed the beginning of the flight," said Rob Dewar, vice-president and general manger of the CSeries program.

Dewar joked that because the flight took off a few minutes earlier than announced and the engines were so quiet, people who happened to be looking in another direction didn't know the jet was even taking off.

"I think its the first time we've been early in the program," he said of the early start, alluding to the many delaysthat have plaguedtheCSeries over the course of its 10-year development.

Porter impressed with test flight

We have now convinced investors,suppliers, customers, future potential customers that the aircraft isdelivering what we said it would.- MikeArcamone, Bombardier

Bombardier has said it has secured 177 firm orders and 211commitments from 15customers for theCSeries, with the two most recent customers signing up at the Moscow air show last month. Bombardier said several customers were at Mirabel Monday to get a firsthand look at the product.

"We have now convinced investors,suppliers, customers, future potential customers that the aircraft isdelivering what we said it would, and it'sgoing to be a game changer," saidMike Arcamone, president of Bombardier'scommercial aircraft division.

RobertDeluce, president and CEO of Toronto-based Porter Airlines, was one of the potential CSeriescustomers watching Monday's test flight. The Toronto-based airline plans to use theCSeriesto expand its service from an enlarged island airport inToronto's downtown.

Delucesaid he's looking forward to receiving test data to confirm theCSeriesengines are as quiet as expected and to silencing some localcritics who fear an expansion of the tiny airport would increasethe already contentious noise pollution caused by air traffic over downtown and nearby Toronto Island, beloved by locals for its relative isolation from the hustle and bustle of the city.

"I think the test data that Bombardier will be able to produce now that this test program is underway should flow to the city [of Toronto]and help validate in due course the information it needs to give the approval [for Porter's expansion]," he said.

Given theyears of computer and on-ground testing the plane has undergone, Monday's flight was largely symbolic, says Karl Moore ofMcGillUniversity'sDesautelsFaculty of Management.

"At one level, it's a non-event because it's going to work for sure, but I think it's the symbolism of it, and it allows them to gothrough that phase, get the data they need to go into production,"he said.

The markets were similarly underwhelmed by Monday's event, and Bombardier's stock fell 1.2 per cent, closing at $4.93 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Air Canada a potential customer

Walter Spracklin of RBC Capital Markets said he expects orders for the CSeries will increase in the first half of 2014 after flight data compiled over about three months confirms promised savings. The greatest potential for new business will come once the plane is in service, he said.

"Engine testing to date has been coming in better than expected, and we see limited risk that the CSeries will not live up to performance claims," he wrote in a report, adding that company officials have confirmed that order inquiries are starting to pick up.

He sees Air Canada, a Chinese airline, Flydubai and Swiss Air as the top candidates to place orders. Spracklin said the CSeries is under serious consideration for at least 30 to 50 aircraft as part of Air Canada's search for up to 100 new narrow-body planes to replace its Embraer single-aisle aircraft.

Fadi Chamoun of BMO Capital Markets expects the CSeries will capture 30 per cent market share or about 2,100 deliveries over 20 years. Since its launch in July 2008, the CSeries has captured about 23 per cent of the 770 aircraft orders in this seat range.

"We believe that it will be challenging for the CSeries program to generate a 'home-run'-type return on capital for Bombardier given stiff competition and the sizable up-front investment," he wrote.

Embraer's new E2 family of jets, particularly the E195 will be a challenger to the CSeries, Chamoun added.

Airlines are reluctant to add a new aircraft type in their fleet, but the CSeries would become more attractive as it approaches entry-into-service and validates the industry-leading per seat costs, he noted. Bombardier has also been reluctant to sell many early planes at large discounts, arguing it only needs to produce 10 per month to generate a reasonable return on investment.