News - Bombardier Starts C-Series Production Ramp-up

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft has completed structural assembly of the first production C Series CS100 for launch customer Swiss International Airlines, following full equipage of the final assembly facility in Mirabel, Quebec, and the start of “ramp up” toward full serial production, the Canadian company announced Tuesday. Bombardier expects to deliver the first airplane to Swiss in the second quarter of this year.

On January 18 Swiss flight crews began their CS100 flight training in Mirabel, where they prepare for the route-proving flights alongside Bombardier’s flight crew when the CS100 route-proving aircraft flies to Europe in the coming weeks. The latest phase of preparation for service follows the completion of the North American route-proving program that included more than 35 cities. During the program, the CS100 aircraft conducted flights using typical airline flight routings and operational procedures.

“It's truly a spectacular sight to see the C Series final assembly line fully stacked with production aircraft in various stages of assembly, said Bombardier Commercial Aircraft president Fred Cromer. “The line itself has been designed for maximum production efficiency and our skilled production teams reached a milestone this month when they rolled out the first structurally complete aircraft that will enter service with Swiss in the next few months.”

Plans call for Bombardier to operate the European route proving program from Swiss International’s base in Zurich, Switzerland, using the airline’s schedules, flight crews, maintenance crews and aircraft destinations.

“In addition to the C Series aircraft production ramp-up and European route proving, our C Series program and engineering teams are working diligently alongside our customer services team, transferring employees to various areas for cross-functional training and aircraft familiarization,” said C Series program head Rob Dewar. “The timing is perfect as we now ready the European leg of the C Series route-proving program.”

Bombardier announced that the CS100 had received its type certificate from Transport Canada in December. Bombardier will continue to work with Transport Canada to validate the CS100’s training syllabus, the company said. Meanwhile, it expects the larger CS300 to gain its type certification within the next six months.