By Lisa Gordon | February 20, 2015 Estimated reading time 1 minute, 46 seconds.
Bombardier’s 415 “Superscooper” production line is located in North Bay, Ont.
Skies has confirmed that Bombardier has officially paused production of its 415 amphibious water bomber due to low market demand for the aircraft.
A Bombardier spokesperson said there have not yet been any layoffs on the 415 “Superscooper” production line, located in North Bay, Ont.
Bombardier launched its specialized 415 turboprop firefighting aircraft in 1991, with first delivery following in 1994. According to the manufacturer, the total fleet hours had exceeded 217,000 as of October 2012. The two-crew aircraft needs only 12 seconds to scoop up 6,137 litres (1,621 U.S. gallons) of water, which is then mixed with a foam suppressant before being dropped on a fire.
The 415 is currently operated in several countries around the world—including France, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Spain, Morocco and here in Canada—but orders have been slow for the last few years.
The Bombardier 415 production line pause comes on the heels of a similar decision in January to pause the OEM’s Learjet 85 program due to weak market demand.
“Depending on the duration of the [415 production line] pause, we will re-adjust manpower as required,” wrote Krystyna Hranek, manager of marketing and communications for specialized and amphibious aircraft, on Feb. 20.
