Bombardier Inc. replaced its sales chief for commercial
aircraft, as the Canadian manufacturer tries to gain market
traction for its new flagship jetliner while rivals Boeing Co. and
Airbus have padded their order books.
Bombardier said Tuesday that Raymond Jones will take over as
senior vice president of sales, marketing and asset management for
its commercial aircraft unit. Mr. Jones is replacing Chet Fuller,
who will leave Bombardier at the end of 2013 "to pursue other
career opportunities." A Bombardier spokesman said Mr. Jones is
taking up his new responsibilities immediately. The spokesman
declined to offer additional explanation for Mr. Fuller's
departure.
Bombardier is betting big on its CSeries jetliners, the largest
aircraft the company has ever built. The CSeries planes compete
with the smallest single-aisle jets from Boeing and Airbus, which
have seen record sales in recent years for their 737 and A320
jetliners. Bombardier has a total of 419 orders and commitments
from 16 customers, including 177 firm orders, for the CSeries since
it officially launched the program with its first orders in July
2008. Some initial conditional commitments for the jet have been
slow to materialize into firm orders. By comparison, Boeing and
Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., have
more than 4,000 combined firm orders for upgraded versions of
equivalent and slightly larger single-aisle jets.
The smaller of two CSeries models first flew in mid-September,
but has been slow to accelerate its testing campaign. The company
said recently it is evaluating its entry-into-service date, which
is currently pegged for mid-2014.
Mr. Jones currently serves as vice president of world-wide
strategic accounts for Bombardier's business aircraft unit,
handling sales to business-jet operators NetJets Inc., Flexjet and
Vistajet--all of which have placed significant orders for new
aircraft in recent years. Netjets is a unit of Berkshire Hathaway
Inc.
"I am confident [Mr. Jones] will bring a global perspective to
his new role, and will lead the commercial aircraft sales and
marketing team to open new markets around the world," said Mike
Arcamone, president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft.
In addition to trying to accelerate sales of the CSeries jets,
Bombardier also wants to add orders for its smaller, regional
aircraft, which compete against Brazil's Embraer SA and turboprop
aircraft from ATR, a joint venture between EADS and Alenia
Aermacchi, a unit of Finmeccanica SpA.
Mr. Fuller joined Bombardier in 2010 from General Electric Co.'s
aviation-products unit. His style often diverged from the more
conservative approach favored by the Canadian airplane maker,
causing internal tension about the most effective strategy to sell
its 120-to-160-seat CSeries jetliner, according to people familiar
with the situation. Externally, executives from CSeries customers
Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Korean Air Lines Co. Ltd. have expressed
concern about the company's marketing approach in the face of
fierce competition.
Mr. Fuller couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
As a decadelong Bombardier sales veteran, Mr. Jones is likely to
be provided more latitude by the company's leadership to operate in
his new role compared with Mr. Fuller, said a person familiar with
the situation.
Write to Jon Ostrower at jon.ostrower@wsj.com
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