Usairways Loses Loans For 100 Rj's!

Bombardier Aerospace Maintains Regional Jet Delivery Schedule

Montréal, September 12, 2004

Total aircraft deliveries not affected by US Airways bankruptcy filing.

Bombardier Aerospace announced today that the US Airways' filing for bankruptcy protection will not affect total aircraft deliveries for this fiscal year.

As of September 10, 2004, there were 45 Bombardier CRJ aircraft (comprised of two CRJ200* and 43 CRJ700*) yet to be delivered to US Airways from the original order of 85 aircraft signed in May 2003. Twelve of these aircraft were scheduled to be delivered in the remainder of the current fiscal year 2004/05 (year ending January 31, 2005).

Of the 12 aircraft scheduled for delivery in the remainder of this fiscal year, eight will be taken by GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) in accordance with the original purchase agreement, leaving only four aircraft to be reconfigured for other airline customers. GECAS will also take delivery of an additional eight aircraft in the first two quarters of fiscal year 2005/06. The remaining US Airways aircraft deliveries have been deferred over the next two fiscal years as previously announced on July 27, 2004.

CRJ production rates will not be affected in the near term and total Bombardier Aerospace aircraft deliveries for the current fiscal year will remain as previously announced, approximately the same number as was delivered in fiscal year 2003/04.

"Faced with the financial uncertainty of particular customers, Bombardier Aerospace has been proactively managing its delivery schedule in recent months in order to reduce its exposure to aircraft that may be deferred or cancelled," said Pierre Beaudoin, President and Chief Operating Officer, Bombardier Aerospace.

"The reduction of the CRJ200 production rate, the negotiation of agreements for the deferral of aircraft deliveries and other such measures have and will ensure we continue deliveries according to our plan."

"Despite the unfortunate financial difficulties of some of the major carriers, the regional aircraft industry remains strong with regional routes among the most profitable for the airlines," he added.

Regional jet city-pairs serviced by Bombardier CRJ aircraft have grown 48 per cent in the last 19 months while Bombardier CRJ departures have increased by 54 per cent. In addition, industry forecasts for aircraft in the 70- to 120-seat range predict production of over 3,700 regional aircraft from 2004 to 2013 representing a value of over US $84 billion.

About Bombardier
A world-leading manufacturer of innovative transportation solutions, from regional aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment, Bombardier Inc. is a global corporation headquartered in Canada. Its revenues for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2004 were $15.5 billion US and its shares are traded on the Toronto, Brussels and Frankfurt stock exchanges (BBD, BOM and BBDd.F). News and information are available at www.bombardier.com.

*Trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries

Information:
John Paul Macdonald
Bombardier Aerospace
(514) 855-7972

I know this is from the 12th, did something change their minds?

jm
 
Excerpted from:
US Airways Loses Loans For 100 Jets
Planes Were Integral To Restructuring Plan

By Keith L. Alexander
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 18, 2004; Page E01

US Airways' loss of its regional plane orders was a major blow to the carrier's restructuring efforts. Besides aiding expansion plans, the smaller planes burn less fuel than jets, a feature that would have helped the carrier reduce its fuel costs.

"This is one of the many reasons we advised our labor leaders that it would be much worse for the company if it had to file Chapter 11," said US Airways spokesman David Castelveter. "We'll have to adjust our plan accordingly, but our ability to grow will be limited."

Merrill Lynch analyst Michael Linenberg said the airline would now be forced to "retool" its fall schedule since the planes were going to be used on several medium-size business routes, such as those from Charlotte to Minneapolis and Dallas and Philadelphia to Minneapolis.

I'd say this trumps the Bombardier press release of Sep 12!

dittos on the ouch...
jm
 
It was the airline's fault to overextend itself, when it was trying to get out of the last bankruptcy, by placing new jet orders....

They thought this would solve their problem of doing scheduled maintenance on the jets they had... because they wanted to break the mechanics union....layoffs mechanics....and shift the remianing work to Alabama on the Airbuses....Who knows how many jets are sitting in the desert ...beacause they didn't want to keep them maintained...and figured we'll just order "new" smaller jets....

It's like the old saying..."What goes around comes around"....

Looks like to me concessions for future savings ain't gonna get their jets back in production....only cold, hard cash....

RSA will have to free up some of their wealth of $25 billion in additional financing to pay Embrarier and Bombardier or look for new investers...It looks like at this point Embrarier and Bombardier seemed to have lost Faith in USAIRWAYS desire to pay their bills.....