Bombardier Inc. has replaced its commercial aircraft marketing
chief as the Canadian transportation company works to accelerate
sales while it struggles to complete its first direct challenge to
Boeing Co. and Airbus Group NV, according to a company
spokesman.
Vice president of commercial aircraft marketing Philippe
Poutissou left the company yesterday, along with an additional
commercial operations director as part of broader changes to the
marketing division, according to a person familiar with the
change.
A Bombardier spokesman confirmed Mr. Poutissou's departure, but
said the company was "not going to explain or discuss the
change."
Ross Mitchell will take over as head of marketing the company's
commercial aircraft, which includes the new larger CSeries and
regional jet and turboprop products, the spokesman confirmed
following an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Mitchell has held various sales positions across both
commercial and business aircraft units, most recently as vice
president of business acquisition for Bombardier Business and
Commercial Aircraft.
Mr. Poutissou didn't immediately respond to a request for
comment.
The CSeries jetliner was originally due to airlines at the end
of 2013, but slipped while the company matures the jet's systems
and software. The aircraft made its first flight in September 2013,
but has been grounded since late May following a major engine
failure on one of its CSeries test aircraft at its Mirabel, Quebec
facility.
No one was hurt during the incident, but the flight test program
has been subsequently grounded as engine manufacturer Pratt &
Whitney test and develop a modification to the engine's oil system.
Bombardier made no changes to its most recent schedule and has
maintained that the jet will still enter service in the second half
of 2015, an expectation that predates the engine failure. Pratt
& Whitney is a unit of United Technologies Corp.
The 125 to 160 seat jetliner is aimed at challenging the
smallest jets from Airbus and Boeing, which has prompted an
aggressive competitive response from the aerospace industrial
giants to keep the all-new CSeries from gaining market
traction.
In late July, Bombardier reorganized its corporate structure,
splitting its aerospace operations into a business aircraft and
commercial aircraft units and eliminated the chief executive role
of its once-combined aerospace unit, while adding a new engineering
and services pillar. A fourth transportation unit, focusing on its
train business, remains a stand-alone unit.
Write to Jon Ostrower at jon.ostrower@wsj.com
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