Bombardier puts firefighting SuperScooper plane on 'pause'

The North Bay workers who assemble and test Bombardier's firefighting water-bombing plane the SuperScooper 415 will be laid off by the end of the year after the company put the program on pause.

The problem is lack of orders for the SuperScooper 415, an amphibious aircraft used in fighting forest fires around the world, according to Isabelle Gauthier, director of communications for Bombardier Commercial Aircraft.

Bombardier filled orders for three of the aircraft this year, but there are none in the pipeline to build in 2016, she said.

"This reflects the situation with worldwide markets. The customers for these aircraft are governments," she said. And governments are pulling back on any discretionary spending in the face of a global economic slowdown.

Gone by end of year

As a result, Bombardier has given notice that it will pull out of its rented North Bay facility, and lay off the 33 workers based there.

Those workers, some of whom have been with the company 10 years, are finishing the final order, but should be gone by year-end.

The parts for the water-bombers were made in Montreal before being assembled in North Bay. Those workers have already been laid off or reassigned, according to Gauthier.

She insists the SuperScooper 415 program is merely on "pause" rather than suspended or cancelled. The decision was made last spring, she said, but if Bombardier does receive orders it can still make the aircraft.

However, she said the company may reassess that decision if there are no orders forthcoming. Bombardier is burning through cash in an attempt to get its CSeries regional jet into production and has reduced resources for other aircraft lines, including the Global 7000 corporate jet.

Gauthier says Bombardier sales representatives are still attempting to sell the SuperScooper 415 and there are still 60 customer support staff who can replace parts and perform service for the 162 aircraft in operation around the world.