Order Includes NextGen Q400s... For Affiliates
When it comes to "say what?" news announcements, this one may be
even more surprising than Northrop/EADS winning the Air Force KC-X
contract. At least at first.
On Monday, Bombardier Aerospace announced SAS Scandinavian
Airlines and three of its affiliate airlines signed firm orders for
27 regional jets and turboprops, and have taken options on an
additional 24 aircraft. That's not the surprising part. What
knocked our socks off, is the fact the order includes 14 new Q400
turboprops... despite SAS's well-publicized issues with its prior
fleet of Q400s last year.
As ANN reported, SAS dumped
the twin turboprop regional airliner from its mainline fleet on
October 28, 2007... one day after the airline's third landing
accident involving a Q400 in just over six weeks. In each of those
accidents -- the first two of which occurred just four days apart
-- the aircraft experienced problems with deploying their right
maingear.
Despite the localized nature of the problem, Bombardier could
not identify a single cause for all three failures. Separate
investigations by the Danish government determined the first two
incidents -- in Aalborg, Denmark on September 9, followed by
another failure in Vilnius, Lithuania three days later -- were
caused by a corroded bolt in each plane's landing gear
assembly.
A November joint
investigation by the European Aviation Safety Agency, Transport
Canada, planemaker Bombardier and component manufacturer Goodrich
determined the October 27 incident was not related to the first two
incidents, however, and was not caused by a design flaw in the
aircraft's right maingear assembly. A preliminary investigation
singled out a loose rubber O-ring, which jammed and kept the gear
leg from extending
SAS ultimately demanded close to $200 million in compensation
from the planemaker, to be applied towards its order for CRJ900s.
Last month, Bombardier said it was close to agreeing on terms with
SAS for the problems... and on Monday, Bombardier said it, SAS, and
landing gear manufacturer Goodrich had reached "a mutually
satisfactory agreement -- the terms of which are confidential."
Well, perhaps not entirely confidential. Under terms of the deal
announced Monday, Estonian Air of Tallinn, Estonia and SAS placed
firm orders for 13 Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen regional jets, with
options on 17 more, while Widerøe’s Flyveselskap A/S
of Bodø, Norway and airBaltic of Riga, Latvia have ordered
14 Q400 NextGen turboprops, with options on seven more. (You'll
note SAS declined to put its own livery on more Q400s --
Ed.)
The value of the combined firm orders based on CRJ900 NextGen
and Q400 NextGen list prices is approximately $883 million US. The
value of the orders could increase to approximately $1.75 billion
if all options are exercised.
"The firm order for 27 aircraft will bring a rejuvenated premium
product to our customers," said Mats Jansson, President and CEO,
SAS Group. "The CRJ900 and Q400 NextGen aircraft are well-suited to
our operations in Northern Europe, where our customers expect
comfortable and environmentally friendly travel."
"We are proud to extend our long-standing partnership with SAS
and its partner airlines," added Steven Ridolfi, President,
Bombardier Regional Aircraft. "This order is not only a milestone
in terms of size and value, but is a testament to the strength of
our relationship. SAS has been a Bombardier customer for eight
years, Widerøe for 50 years, and now we welcome airBaltic
and Estonian Air to our family. We are also very pleased that SAS
and its affiliates have chosen our NextGen family, both turboprops
and jets, to augment their fleets."
The transactions increase firm orders for CRJ900/CRJ900 NextGen
airliners to 242 aircraft, with 145 delivered at January 31, 2008.
Q400/Q400 NextGen aircraft firm orders now stand at 296 aircraft,
with 190 delivered as of January 31, 2008.
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