Premium #327 – Boeing’s trade complaint against Bombardier – Does it hold water?

In a Goliath vs. David move, Boeing file a trade complaint against Bombardier through the Department of Commerce and The United States International Trade Commission.  This administrative process, which has already disrupted US-Canada trade with a 20% tariff on soft wood products from Canada, is being pursued by Boeing in the civil aviation field to counteract Bombardier’s CSeries.  The claim that Bombardier is costing Boeing jobs is laughable, at best.  Delta wanted a 100 seat aircraft, a size range Boeing

no longer makes. 

Our analysis of Boeing’s claim results in zero actual injury since Boeing does not currently and has no plans to manufacture an aircraft that competes with the CS100, which is the only CSeries model that has currently transacted for in the United States.   While Boeing cites the 100-150 seat market, Bombardier’s larger offering, the CS300, has been offered but has not yet sold in the United States.  We have previously discussed why Airbus and Boeing are afraid of Bombardier, and this action is consistent with such fear.  Bombardier has no chance of overtaking the 737 series, and the CSeries has been outsold by the 737MAX family by a ratio of 9:1 worldwide, and a 6:1 ratio in the US.

The last competing aircraft from Boeing in this size category of the CS100 include the 717 (which Boeing acquired with the McDonnell Douglas acquisition) and the 737-600, each of which went out of production in 2006, although Boeing offered the 737-600 until 2012 without market success.  Neither of these aircraft are economically competitive when compared to the new technology CSeries or its Embraer E190-E2 competitor, both of which offers more than 20% better economics, better environmental performance including lower emissions and substantially lower noise, and a better passenger cabin with more comfort and convenience features when compared to Boeing’s offering.  Any comparison of those aircraft would clearly and obviously favor the new technology aircraft from Bombardier and Embraer over Boeing in the 110 seat class.