Braathens Aviation Cites Uncertainty Of The Delivery Schedule

Swedish regional airline Braathens Aviation has informed Bombardier that it will not be the launch customer for the company's troubled CSeries airliners.

In its second-quarter interim report, Braathens said it had "informed Bombardier that we will not assume the role of formal launch operator of the aircraft type."

That doesn't mean that they won't eventually fly the airplanes, they just no longer plan to be first. The French news service AFP reports that the regional carrier has five CS100 and five CS300 airplanes on order, but after a "engine related incident" in May that caused another delay in the airplane's introduction into service, the airline was "discussing other possible changes to the aircraft delivery schedule with Bombardier."

Bombardier has not had the interest in the CSeries airplanes it expected from the industry, with orders for 203 on the books, according to the planemaker's website. The company recently announced it would be cutting 1,800 jobs from its payroll in an effort to reduce costs and overhead.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.bombardier.com