After years of accumulating debt and burning through cash, Bombardier’s chief executive officer said the aerospace company’s balance sheet is now in much better shape than it was just 12 months ago. 

“It’s night and day compared to where we were about a year ago,” Éric Martel said in an interview Tuesday. 

Bombardier has been focused on repaying and refinancing its debt so its next upcoming maturity won’t be until December 2024.

“We've been able to reimburse about $3 billion so far on our balance sheet this year,” Martel said. “We've been also able to re-sequence our debt maturity.

“We had about seven [maturities] that needed to be addressed this year and next year. They've all been taken care of up to the one we had in January 2023. So again, the next one in front of us is December 2024, giving us plenty of time to be ready for the next different step on our strategy.”

Bombardier has been executing on its turnaround plan after having experienced its fair share of struggles over the years.

The plan has involved selling off its commercial aircraft and rail businesses to narrow its product portfolio on business jets including its flagship Global 7500, reducing its debt burden and downsizing its workforce. 

Bombardier launched its latest aircraft – the Challenger 3500 – in September and subsequently announced a firm order of 20 jets at a list price of US$534 million – its largest order of 2020. 

Right now, Martel said the company will keep its attention on its current lineup and doesn’t have any plans currently to invest in developing new planes.

“Today, we don't feel any pressure to go out and develop a new airplane. Yes, we're always constantly thinking about it, looking at what our competitors are doing, assessing the market, listening to our customers. So at the right time, we will be ready to launch a new product,” he said.

Martel said, so far, the company hasn’t encountered any significant global supply chain issues that many other companies are grappling with, although his team is keeping a keen eye on any potential manufacturing disruptions that could arise so they can be dealt with ahead of time. 

There have been some challenges on the employment front, particularly at its services business, but Martel said the company has been able to work with local schools in cities where employees are needed to staff its workforce as needed.