EVERETT – Snohomish County economic development officials will meet in August with executives from Bombardier Aerospace in an effort to convince the Canadian company to build its new 110-seat jets in Everett.
“If this is a good home for the 7E7 and Boeing, why couldn’t it be a good home for Bombardier and their new airplane?” asked John Monroe, aerospace industry liaison for the Snohomish County Economic Development Council.
A Bombardier spokeswoman said the company is willing to consider any potential sites in North America or western Europe as a home for its new CSeries jets.
“We’re not ruling out any possibilities,” Bombardier Aerospace spokeswoman Sylie Gauthier said. “Obviously, we’re going to start looking at where we have our own facilities.”
Montreal-based Bombardier now builds business planes including the Learjet and Global Challenger, and regional aircraft – smaller jets and propeller-driven planes seating 30 to 90 passengers with ranges of 1,500 to 2,000 miles.
But at least week’s Farnborough Air Show in England, Bombardier announced it was embarking on a yearlong feasibility study of a new family of jets that would compete directly with smaller planes built by Boeing and Airbus.
The company proposes two versions of its new jet, seating 110 and 130 passengers, both with ranges of up to 3,500 miles – enough to fly across continents. That would pit them squarely against the Boeing 717 and 737-600, and the Airbus A318 and A319.
Bombardier sees a potential $250 billion market for planes of that size over the next 20 years, Gauthier said.
By 2010, the company believes, airlines will be looking to replace the older 737s in their fleets, as well as McDonnell Douglas DC9s and MD90s, Fokker 100s and British Aerospace BAe-146s.
And by 2010, Boeing will have entered full production of the 7E7 Dreamliner in Everett, leaving the region ready to focus on a new project, Monroe said.
Snohomish County has a lot to offer Bombardier, he said. The company already does business with a number of local suppliers, including Northwest Composites, which is a risk-sharing partner with Bombardier, developing interiors for its new CRJ 700/900 series jets.
The Puget Sound region has a pool of experienced aerospace workers, Monroe noted, as well as existing training programs to fine-tune workers’ skills. The state’s aerospace industry also got a shot in the arm last year with the tax-break package approved to lure the 7E7. Some of the tax breaks were specific to Boeing, but many are available to any aerospace company that chooses to build its planes in Washington.
There’s a personal link as well, Monroe noted. Gary Scott, the Bombardier executive in charge of the CSeries project, is a former Boeing executive.
Given all that, why not approach the company about setting up shop here? Monroe asked.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
