We are renowned at Bombardier for being innovative, creative, agile. The defense business, I think, needed that at the same time. So we bring that to the table, of course leveraging technology and using AI as part of that. The Middle East is important. We've been in the Middle East, and we're excited about the growth there. People need the range and that type of comfort on our plane.
Since becoming CEO in 2020, my next guest, Éric Martel, has turned Bombardier from a struggling business to a success story of aviation. He's joining me right now. Welcome, Éric.
So, the story of Bombardier is a very well-liked in business circles because it's, if you don't mind me saying, a bit of a roller coaster story and I hear that now it's also a big case study at Harvard Business School and Columbia University.
It is actually. We had an amazing five years at Bombardier right now. The company was in the train business before, but we decided to focus solely on private jets, grew our services and defense businesses, and it's been going very well. Private jets have become more popular worldwide. The biggest install base is in the US, but the rest of the world is growing fast. Our jets are also used in military applications like surveillance. The company went through a major turnaround, improving all aspects of our finances. Our stock was trading at $6 to $10 in 2020 and is now around $250. So a significant turnaround for my team and the whole company.
Here at FII, you will be talking at a panel about the aerospace industry. What are the main points you want to get across, given that you have experience in various aspects of the industry?
Absolutely. Now, a little bit of what I just talked about briefly, but maybe in more detail. Clearly, all the equipment you would put on a surveillance airplane – radar, communication equipment – has become smaller over the years, so you don't need that big jet we used to use. Private jets are performing extremely well, with record altitudes of 51,000 feet. Our Global 8000 flies at 0.95 Mach, almost the speed of sound. These features are an advantage for putting that equipment and improving their mission. There's been a real shift over the last 10 years towards these products. We'll talk about that tomorrow, and also the incorporation of AI in our product.
We'll talk more about AI I'm sure. But having in mind 'Capital in Motion' as a central theme of FII, this really corresponds to Bombardier, doesn't it? How you decided to shift when it showed it wasn't the right direction anymore.
Yeah, capital allocation is important. Today we have the privilege at Bombardier because we really turned around our financial position to have about a billion dollars US to allocate to improve our product and invest in new businesses like defense and come up with new solutions. We are renowned at Bombardier for being innovative, creative, agile. Everybody talks to us about those things, and the defense business needed that as well. So we bring that to the table, of course leveraging technology and using AI as part of that.
How does AI come into aerospace? Give specific examples.
It's coming in different areas. For example, managing inventory of spare parts, which is very complex, so we've improved forecasting. Also, on the product itself, how we develop and bring a product to market faster than in the past. Producing paperwork and reports needed for certification. So we are using all those things. Also in the defense world, we can fly an airplane unmanned today and bring all the different systems collaborating together even further and faster and more accurately.
Is the industry going towards planes with no people?
In the cockpit? We will eventually, but I think we're not there on the commercial side. The technology is there; we can do it definitely on defense projects. It's something that's probably needed as well. But in commercial, it's going to take a little time for certification and for people to feel safe flying with an unmanned airplane. But we'll get there eventually.
This year is going to be a big year for Bombardier with the launch of the world's fastest business jet. Tell us about this project.
Yeah, we just started delivering the plane. We certified it late last year and delivered our first plane in December. The Global 8000 is reshaping the industry. It's the flagship of private aviation. It goes further – 8,000 nautical miles, so you can fly around 18 hours. It's the fastest airplane at 0.95 Mach, but at the same time has the lowest cabin pressure ever built on a jet. When you fly long distance on a commercial plane, you're tired because of the cabin pressure at 6,000-7,000 feet. On our jet, you're at 2,000-plus feet. So you fly 18 hours and feel as rested as if you had slept in your own bed.
