Bombardier delivered its final production Learjet in 2022, but the company wants the aviation public to know that product support for the estimated fleet of 2,000 aircraft still in service remains robust, and accounts for a significant portion of its $2 billion in annual product support revenues.
“Learjets comprise 40 percent of our fleet,” said Anthony Cox, Bombardier vice-president of product support.
“We’ve made a commitment to maintain the type certificate and responsibility for continuing airworthiness and that includes putting engineering support around the product and evolving it. If there are improvements or technologies available that our customers want, we can address any airworthiness issues. We still have a fully staffed technical services and structures team focused on Learjets and a customer response center in Wichita that is highly-focused on Learjets.
“We still see Learjet as an amazing opportunity. I think it is a very healthy market. We have an advisory board focused on Learjets and we’ve been very clear to our customers that maintenance and ongoing airworthiness are things we’re committed to,” he emphasized. “Customers recognize that the aircraft’s performance and capability is still unmatched. We see a long life for these aircraft and this brand.”
Cox noted that in one recent week, Bombardier shipped over 3,000 Learjet parts with an “off-the-shelf” ratio that exceeded 95 percent, meaning that the company was more than 95 percent probable to ship the part to the customer and fulfill the order.
Learjet customers continue to be supported by nine Bombardier-owned service facilities at Berlin, Dallas, Hartford, London Biggin Hill, Melbourne (Australia), North Miami, Tucson, and Wichita as well as a joint venture in Tianjin, China. Another company service centre is scheduled to come online in 2026 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Altogether, Bombardier has added more than one million square feet of maintenance facilities over the last several years and has made what Cox characterizes as a “significant investment” in boosting its parts inventory. Those company centres are supported by 24/7 customer response centres in Montreal, Wichita, and Singapore and supplemented by a fleet of 35 mobile support vehicles, as well as 16 non-owned authorized service facilities worldwide. In Canada, they include Skyservice in Calgary, Montreal, Muskoka, Toronto, and Vancouver.
Of all the company facilities, Bombardier’s Center of Excellence in Wichita remains the most popular for Learjet owners and offers full services including paint and interior, a machine shop, and component repair and overhaul.
“It’s where the aircraft was born,” Cox pointed out. “A lot of our technicians have either worked on the production line or maintained the jets for a large part of their careers.”
In the United States, Duncan Aviation remains one of the largest independent service centres for the Learjet brand, touching more than 600 of the aircraft a year, predominately series 45 and derivative models (40/45/70/75/Liberty) and 60 series, at its three main locations in Michigan, Nebraska, and Utah, as well as satellite locations, according to Jeff Regier, Learjet service sales representative.
Regier said business has seen a strong uptick over the last two years, with more customers upgrading their aircraft. “There’s been a huge rise in revamping and refinishing, reinventing the aircraft.”
One hot-seller: Connectivity, particularly the Gogo L3 and L5 internet communications systems. But Regier said it’s been paint and interior as well, particularly “more custom schemes. People are starting to get creative here.” Some of the more aggressive examples of unique paint jobs include digital camouflage and paint splatters.
Much of this work is done in conjunction with heavy inspections. Regier noted that more of the fleet is coming up on 4,800 and the more involved 9,600-hour inspection, the latter of which can take from seven to 10 weeks. People are investing in even higher time aircraft with an eye to “keeping them for the long haul,” he said, adding that the ownership split runs about 50-50 between individual and corporate owners.
Duncan can also provide full service on the TF731 series engines as a Honeywell authorized service centre. “We promote ourselves as a one-stop shop.”
While Bombardier still offers full engineering and technical support for its 20, 30, and 50 series Learjet aircraft, it has partnered with VSE Aviation for parts supply for those models. Other parts are available from salvage firms in Oklahoma and Kansas. However, Cox admitted that the lead time for older aircraft parts “is becoming more difficult. We have to look for rare parts, but we maintain the drawings, tooling, and capability to be able to produce those parts.”
Parts for 20 and 30 series can be ordered directly from approved partners. Cox said Bombardier works with supplier partners “on their forecasting models to make sure they’ve got adequate stock.” And customers enrolled in Smart Services can still order directly from Bombardier.
Company-wide, Bombardier is incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into its overall product support scheme. Cox likens it to the system used by online retailer Amazon, that automatically suggests replacement and complementary items based on customer order history. By way of example Cox said: “Say you purchase an air cycle machine for your aircraft. [Our system] will suggest the couplings and rings you need to go with that. There’s a lot of effort behind the scenes to make sure [our] ecosystem is up to the task.”
Duncan’s Regier said his company is equally committed. “We pride ourselves on this program and anything to do to help keep the [Learjet] name going strong.”
