Business-jet market loses major player

Hawker-beechcraft’s exit might not be the last in the struggling market for private airplanes

ORLANDO, FLA. — The announcement by Hawker Beechcraft Corp. that it is abandoning the business-jet market is big news in aviation — and some say Bombardier Inc. had a hand in that exit.

The once-venerable Wichita, Kan., firm that makes the King Air and Beech and Baron lines said at the kickoff to the 65th annual meeting and convention of the National Business Aviation Association that it will shed its jet aircraft component and concentrate on smaller piston-powered and turboprop airplanes.

In an interview, Steve Ridolfi, president of Bombardier Business Aircraft, said the elimination of a once serious rival “is a pretty big deal if you look at it over the long term.”

And the continuing weak private jet market will probably claim other victims, Ridolfi added.

“Obviously (Hawker Beechcraft) has been in decline for the last three or four years — you know, becoming a less and less important player in the marketplace.”

“But they were important once — they were a significant component of the light and medium aircraft (market segment). So obviously, from an immediate impact standpoint, it’s not very much. But it’s a real change, a shift from one of the premier companies. So, yes, over the long term I think it’s a very important happening in our industry.”

Ridolfi claimed no credit for driving the once-serious rival — now under bankruptcy protection — from the private jet market.

“I think it was market forces, product selection and strategy (that killed Hawker Beechcraft’s jet division).

“I think there might be further shakeouts in the (business jet industry). There’s still a lot of capacity in our business,” he said, quickly adding Bombardier won’t be a victim thanks to its presence in every category, from small Learjets to medium-cabin Challengers and large and ultra-large Global aircraft.

That, he said, is “very important to clients who want” to move up in categories.

“Over the last few years, we’re very gratified that we’ve been doing very well from a market share perspective.”

But “clearly, we’ve suffered as well since the 2008 downturn.”

The business-jet market had six main players before Hawker Beechcraft dropped out Tuesday: Bombardier is the largest, with a market share of roughly 40 per cent worldwide, in aircraft units and dollar figures, Cessna Aircraft Corp., Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Brazil’s Embraer and France’s Dassault Aviation, maker of the Falcon jets.

But Stan Smith attributed a significant part of Hawker’s demise to Bombardier, specifically its Challenger 300, of which Bombardier has sold about 375, one of its best-sellers.

“That airplane was so far ahead of Hawker’s Horizon 4000 that it just killed it, they were never going to catch up to that,” said Smith, a pilot who flew Bombardier regional jets for two years and Challengers for several more years — and who still sports a Challenger leather bomber jacket.

Now director of technical services for Guardian-Jet in Guilford, Conn., Smith agreed that a further shakeout is imminent, suggesting Cessna may also have to cut back.

Like all manufacturers, Wichita, Kan.-based Cessna already has pulled back sharply, laying off half its workforce in the wake of the 2008 recession that hammered all players, Bombardier included.

But Bombardier, Gulfstream and Dassault were helped by the fact that they, unlike Cessna, also build large private jets — a segment that was little affected by the severe global downturn.

Cessna and Embraer spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.

Hawker Beechcraft’s origins date back to 1932, when Beechcraft was founded by Walter Beech and his wife, Olive Ann Mellor Beech.

Guy Hachey, president of Bombardier Aerospace, is attending the NBAA meeting but could not make any comments on the CSeries as Bombardier’s third-quarter results are about to be announced and the company must observe a quiet period ahead of the disclosure.