Canada-based aircraft maker Bombardier may consider M&A if supply chain pressure doesn’t subside, President and CEO Éric Martel said during a July 25 earnings call.
Aircraft manufacturers have had a turbulent year, with production stalled across several supply chains between Boeing being in the hot seat for quality issues, while others face sourcing challenges. Similar to other carriers, the ongoing headwinds have prompted Bombardier to implement strategic mitigation plans to meet delivery goals.
When it comes to M&A, Martel told analysts that Bombardier had purchased Latécoère’s Electrical Wiring Interconnection System Business — which manufactures electrical harnesses used in aircraft — in July 2023 as part of an initiative to optimize and bolster its supply chain.
“So, we will continue, if there is any supply chain pressure, to consider maybe doing that once more,” Martel said.
Engine availability is plaguing Bombardier’s supply chain, according to the earnings call. Martel told investors that the planemaker is working “very closely” with engine suppliers — a solution that Bombardier has been implementing since the pandemic.
In March, for instance, Chief Procurement Officer Shauna Gamble told Supply Chain Dive that Bombardier increased the number of employees working with its suppliers, with teams reaching more than 50 working in the field.
Bombardier has also deployed other strategies to prevent production issues. Last year, the planemaker leveraged a team of specialists to navigate key supplier and commodity challenges in addition to moving some production in-house.
Bombardier is navigating production shifts created by Boeing and Airbus’ acquisitions of Spirit AeroSystems’ facilities and assembly lines. Bombardier has worked closely with Spirit for “more than three decades” at a Belfast plant, which the aircraft maker had sold to the supplier in 2020.
Martel told analysts Bombardier’s priority is the “existing contract will be upheld at the highest standard for quality, for delivery.”
“And that’s why we have, on a regular basis, people in Belfast working on this priority to make sure that the material keeps flowing, because they made basically most of the fuselage on our airplane,” he added.
