Company Hopes Airliner Will Soon Be Flying In Revenue Service

Bombardier's CS300 airliner flew for the first time Friday, marking a key milestone in the troubled program.

The airliner, which Bombardier plans to position as a competitor to Boeing's 737 and the Airbus A319, took off about 11 a.m. local time from Mirabel, Que. in Canada. The flight had originally been planned for Thursday, but unusually cold weather kept the airplane on the ground until Friday.

USA Today reports that Bombardier CEO Alain Bellemare said that the program is now gaining momentum and "soon we'll be able to go to market."

The CS300 is designed to seat 130-160 passengers, making it Bombardier's largest airplane.

Canada's Financial Post reports that Bombardier has 180 firm orders for the CS300, compared to just 63 for the smaller CS100. The first of the smaller airplanes was supposed to have been delivered to its launch customer late last year, but that delivery date is now sometime in 2015.

The development costs for the CSeries airplanes has far exceeded initial projections, and an uncontained engine failure on one of the CS100 airplanes last May further delayed the program.

(Image provided by Bombardier)

FMI: www.bombardier.com