Bombardier saw a fourth-quarter gain in profits of 30-percent based in part on higher deliveries of business jets, according to the company. By the numbers, that translated to 69 bizjets amounting to an increase of 6.2 percent and buttressed by a record 274 orders. Bombardier Aerospace president Pierre Beaudoin last week told reporters, “Learjet is like everybody else in the industry,” the business jet segment “is benefiting from a strong market.” Looking toward the future, last year’s announcement of the Learjet 60XR has sparked strong interest and the company says it is looking into use of composites throughout the entirety of its product line. The company remains optimistic on the regional jet segment that, for Bombardier, slipped slightly from 35 to 31 deliveries in year-over-year fourth-quarter numbers. The company finished 2006 with a $13.2 billion backlog of orders (up 23 percent over 2005). Aside from composites, Bombardier said a decision on whether to follow through on the proposed 130-seat C Series airliner might be delayed until the end of 2008.
