Taking control of the Series C by Airbus: “the best news in decades”, said Philippe Couillard

Photo AFP
Philippe Couillard was in Toulouse on Tuesday to meet with the CEO of Airbus, Tom Enders.

Charles Lecavalier

Tuesday, march 6, 2018 07:41

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Tuesday, march 6, 2018 10:15

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TOULOUSE | taking control of the C Series aircraft is one of “the best news since almost decades,” for the aerospace sector in Montreal, ” said Philippe Couillard.

“If you talk to Suzanne Benoît, Aéro Montréal, she will tell you that it is one of the best news since almost a decades to the aerospace sector in montreal,” said the prime minister on Tuesday in Toulouse, at the headquarters of the european giant, in the midst of a week-long mission in France.

Mr. Couillard was in Toulouse for a meeting with the CEO of a giant european, Tom Enders, and to announce that a congress of the suppliers of Airbus would be held in October in Montreal.

Airbus employs 129,000 people and has a full order book well filled with 7265 devices. She dangled an annual expenditure of 60 billion euros to feed its supply chain. In Canada, last year, the company has spent $ 1 billion to procure, among other things, structures for its A330 aircraft, manufactured by Mecachrome Mirabel. It is estimated that it will invest “substantially higher” in the next few years.

“We have dreams larger for Canada,” said Mr. Enders in a joint speech with Mr. Couillard. According to Mr. Enders, with the official signing of the agreement, scheduled for this summer, Canada would become the fifth home of the company, after France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain. The development of the C Series is in Montreal to stay, explained the director of purchases of Airbus Klaus Richter. “We can’t move the work somewhere else. It costs too much, it wouldn’t be worth it. The program is in Montreal, that is why it is said that it is the fifth home of Airbus,” he said.

Mr. Couillard is regularly criticized by the opposition parties, because Airbus has put the hand on the control of the C Series without investing a penny, while his government has paid $ 1.3 billion.

Photo AFP

At this time, Bombardier was under pressure following a complaint from Boeing, who believed that the manufacture of the devices was supported by government grants, and that they were sold below their cost of manufacture, and these devices were the subject of tariffs is very important.

This complaint is now fallen, but Mr. Couillard, however, has never believed that Bombardier could support the long-term development of the aircraft 110 to 135 seats. “The future of the Series C, just around the Bombardier, did not face the global market,” said Mr. Couillard.

“When something goes to nothing, it’s not worth anything. When something is going to success, is it worth the money. It was the best option for the C Series”, has hammered Mr. Couillard.