SIGNIFICANT DATES IN BOMBARDIER’S HISTORY

1937: Launch of the sevenpassenger snowmobile crafted by Joseph-Armand Bombardier

1970: Diversifies into rail sector with acquisition of an Austrian company that makes motor scooters, trams and engines. Followed by a series of rail investments in Europe, the U.K., Mexico and Canada

1974: First mass-transit contract, 423 cars for the Montreal métro

1982: New York Transit Authority orders $1 billion worth of subway cars

1986: Diversifies into aerospace with acquisition (minus the debt) of Crown-owned Canadair, manufacturer of the Challenger business jet 1988: Launch of Sea-Doo 1989: Buys Short Brothers, aviation manufacturer in Northern Ireland

1990: Buys Learjet Corp. Two years later, adds Boeing’s de Havilland division 1998: Launch of ATV 2000: Purchase of German rail company Adtranz for $1.1 billion adds 22,000 employees, increasing its global workforce to 78,000

2002: Rail headquarters moved to Berlin from Montreal to be closer to its largest rail market.

2003: Sale of the recreational products division, BRP Inc.

2008: CSeries program is unveiled. Swiss International AG Lines places first firm order for the plane the following year

2012: Largest business jet order in its history, 56 jets for $3.1 billion from VistaJet, potentially rising to $7.8 billion and 142 planes

2014: Rail division makes a US$429 million profit, aerospace division posts a US$995 million loss. Job cuts become a recurring theme for the global labour force of 76,400.

2015: Takes a US$3.2 billion charge for the CSeries program, which is behind schedule and had no new firm orders in 2014. More mass layoffs; 1,000 jobs in January, 1,750 in May. Sells 30 per cent of the rail division to the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec for US$1.5 billion and a 49.5 per cent stake in a limited partnership holding the assets of the CSeries program to the Quebec government for $1 billion US.

2016: The company announces a further phase-out of 7,000 jobs over two years, 2,000 of them contractual, reducing the workforce to 64,000, and reports a net loss for 2015 of US$5.3 billion