CSeries entry into service likely delayed until early 2015: analyst
by The Canadian Press
National Bank Financial analyst Cameron Doerksen says deliveries in 2015 seem "inevitable"
MONTREAL—A transportation analyst says delays in the first test flight of Bombardier’s new CSeries jet will likely push the plane’s entry into commercial service into early 2015.
Bombardier has delayed the inaugural flight three times.
It was initially expected to fly by the end of June, then by the end of July and then delayed a “few weeks.”
The Montreal-based aircraft manufacturer announced last week that it has started low-speed taxiing, one of the last tests before first flight.
National Bank Financial analyst Cameron Doerksen says a first flight by the end of August is possible and deliveries in 2015 seem “inevitable.”
But he says the manufacturer’s inability to correctly predict the inaugural flight suggests the CSeries’ entry-into-service will be in the first quarter of 2015.
Doerksen says such a delay will add costs to the overall CSeries program that will not be “overly material.”
He adds that a delay in deliveries will Bombardier Aerospace margins in 2014.
It had been anticipated six CSeries aircraft would be delivered next year at negative margins.
