New fuel for the Q400 rumours

[dream chaser]

REUTERS
August 03, 2009
(Reuters) - Bombardier Aerospace, the planemaking unit of Canada's Bombardier Inc, said it received a firm order for five Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners valued at about $159 million.
The Montreal-based Bombardier Aerospace said the airline, which has requested to remain undisclosed at this time, has also taken options on an additional five Q400 NextGen aircraft, which could raise the contract value to $332 million.
Bombardier Aerospace said the latest deal increases firm orders for Q400/Q400 NextGen aircraft to 362, with 245 delivered as of April 30.
In June, Bombardier reached an agreement with nearly 3,000 workers at its de Havilland aircraft plant in Toronto, where the company assembles the Q400 turboprop aircraft, avoiding a strike.
Bombardier shares, which have gained about 10 percent in a month, closed at C$3.80 Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Krishna Chaithanya in Bangalore; Editing by Ratul Ray Chaudhuri)
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[Stinky]

I was just about to post the same thing. The number of planes corresponds perfectly with the number Jazz plans to purchase.

[teacher]

It's an uncanny match, time will tell if it's actually Jazz the bought the planes. However with the lead time being in the years and not months for purchasing a Q400, to make the timeline stated in the press release it would have to be sooner rather than later.

[hithere]

i doubt it's Jazz. randell said in the press release that "at least 10 new turboprops " would be bought. This order is only for 5 firm with options for another 5. If and when Jazz makes an order I would imagine the order would be for 10 firm and options for more.

[TopperHarley]

I heard from a few very reliable sources that it's not going to be Q400s, but metros.

[ScudRunner]

I heard Perimeter bought Jazz, they had to funnel all the pop and chip money into something.

[JazzJetDriver]

I wonder how the #1 guy at Perimeter is going to like having 1500 #'s ahead of him.

[just curious]

Nuh uh, BOTL baby!

[johnkruk]

how about porter airlines???????????????????

[Go Guns]

Porter Airlines moving closer to an IPO August 5th, 2009

The head of Porter Airlines Inc. says the Toronto Island upstart is moving closer to an initial pubic offering as it ponders another aircraft purchase.

Robert Deluce, Porter chief executive, said in an interview Tuesday his nearly three-year-old airline has secured the necessary funds for its $45-million new terminal project, which it is paying for without taxpayer money, and for its existing order for 20 Bombardier Q400 turboprops.

With its final two aircraft slated for delivery in early 2010, Porter must decide whether it will place another order for the fuel-efficient aircraft soon, Mr. Deluce said. If it does, Porter would most likely finance the purchase through funds raised in a public offering, he added.

“A year ago, one might have thought an IPO might not have been too far off, but then we went through the slightly reduced travel environment and economic downturn and I don’t think too many IPOs were being done in any sector, let alone the airline sector,” he said. “That’s all going to change.”

While it is too speculative at this point to give a time frame, Mr. Deluce said the two-year wait time for new aircraft does apply some urgency to the matter.

“If we’re going to do it, we’re going to have to get in the queue,” he said.

Porter is privately-owned and therefore does not make its books public, but Mr. Deluce maintains the carrier has been profitable through the downturn.

“As far as our domestic routes go, we’ve experienced significant growth on a year-over-year basis,” he said, noting load factors -- or average amount of seats filled on its planes -- are also improving despite a significant amount of capacity being added.

While its U.S. transborder routes were negatively impacted last fall by the economic downturn Mr. Deluce said traffic was up on those routes by nearly 10% in July compared to last year.

In addition, the carrier, which still only accounts for about 1% of the domestic market, is continuing to add destinations, including St. John’s, N.L., and Boston this fall, and it has Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia on its radar as it takes on more planes.

Mr. Deluce said it will look to strike strategic partnerships with other carriers -- so-called code-shares -- on its U.S. routes to help fill its planes.

Its growth is a stark contrast to its much-larger rival Air Canada, which is faced with weaker demand and shrinking capacity. The country’s largest carrier managed to raise $1.02-billion in additional liquidity last week to meet its obligations as prices continue to fall as carriers cut fares to get people flying.

The federal government is committed to providing $250-million of those funds through Export Development Canada and through its Canada Account.

Mr. Deluce would not comment on the federal funds, but he did say Air Canada has some serious challenges ahead even with them.

“They will still have to make significant changes to their model or else they will continue lose money,” he said. “Additionally, it is my understanding that all of that will eventually have to be paid back. At the end of the day, are they further ahead, or not? It’s hard to tell. Time will be the judge of that.”
© Copyright (c) National Post

It would appear, based on this article that Porter is still looking for funds for airplanes. Exciting times ahead for them though.

[Four1oh]

Crap! I never would have guessed a Q400 would be 32 million!

[mattedfred]

Some food for thought:

1. The following link depicts the 2008 total compensation of Jet Blue Airlines (*147 Airplanes*) CEO David Barger of $885,625 USD:
http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/pa ... =JBLU&pg=1

2. The following link depicts the 2008 total compensation of Mesa Air Group Inc. (*216 Airplanes*) CEO Jonathon Ornstein of $788,087 USD:
http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/pa ... =MESA&pg=1

3. And finally the 2008 Total Calculated Compensation of Jazz Air Income Fund (*133 Airplanes, SOON TO BE 125 AIRPLANES) CEO Joe Randell of $1,859,757 CAD divided by 1.1 = $1,690,688 USD (Look further down the "link" page for this number!):
http://investing.businessweek.com/resea ... c=JAZ_U.TO

[Obbie]

And to this day I have not found anybody who can say they know
what he does to earn that money.

Nobody is able to point to anything and say "Joe did that" !!!!!!

He honestly does nothing for the operation, he just sits there.

Remove him from the operation and nothing would be noticed.....NOTHING !!!!!

[mattedfred]

And to this day I have not found anybody who can say they know
what he does to earn that money.

Nobody is able to point to anything and say "Joe did that" !!!!!!

He honestly does nothing for the operation, he just sits there.

Remove him from the operation and nothing would be noticed.....NOTHING !!!!!

so what are you going to do about it?

[TAWS]

Obbie wrote:
And to this day I have not found anybody who can say they know
what he does to earn that money.

Nobody is able to point to anything and say "Joe did that" !!!!!!

He honestly does nothing for the operation, he just sits there.

Remove him from the operation and nothing would be noticed.....NOTHING !!!!!

Obbie,

With a qoute like that I am just wondering how many years at Jazz you have in to make that statement?

[Inverted2]

You need at least 3.5 months at the company to realize Joe does nothing!

[OOOI]

.

[mattedfred]

i would be interested to know whether you felt that he was worth his current compensation? are the unit holders and employees getting fair value in this case?

do you feel that you are being adequately compensated for your current responsibilities?

[swervin]

do you feel that you are being adequately compensated for your current responsibilities?[/quote]

NO!

[OOOI]

.

[C-GPFG]

I heard from a few very reliable sources that it's not going to be Q400s, but metros.

AC's contract with Georgian/CMA prohibits Jazz from operating aircraft with 18 seats or less.

[FL510JC]

To add to the Q400 rumors...

Rumor has it Transport Canada won't allow a DH8 blanket ratings for the Q400.
(Like they did for the 705)
Brand new ground course and double check-ride anyone?

[chancellor]

That's okay run them at 19 seats that triple at the back would be a crowd pleaser. lol

[Inverted2]

To add to the Q400 rumors...

Rumor has it Transport Canada won't allow a DH8 blanket ratings for the Q400.
(Like they did for the 705)
Brand new ground course and double check-ride anyone?

Not surprising. The 705 barely from what I was told barely got lumped in with the 100/200. I couldn't imagine the Q400 being lumped in with the Dash 8 "classics" Tons of differences. Glass cockpit vs. semi-glass. Mechanical controls vs. hydraulic controls, etc etc.

[teacher]

Flight Safety just does a differences course and some sim time do they not? That course is approved by transport.