Bombardier Designates Wichita Site as Company’s New U.S. Headquarters

(20 April 2022, 11:15 +07)  Bombardier has designated its Wichita site as the company’s new U.S. headquarters.

Bombardier’s footprint in Wichita includes an expanding service centre that supports the entire family of Learjet, Challenger and Global business jets.

The site serves as one of the world’s leading flight test centres that performs testing and certification of aircraft upgrades on all new Bombardier aircraft programs, including the ongoing certification campaign for the Challenger 3500 jet.

Wichita is also home to the newly renamed Bombardier Defense, led by Steve Patrick - Vice President, reflecting the company’s strategic expansion of its existing Specialized Aircraft division.

VistaJet Bombardier CL350 reg: 9H-VCD. Picture by Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com

Bombardier Defense has just received additional firm orders for modified versions of its Global 6000 aircraft, as part of a potential US$465 million order from the United States Air Force (USAF) in support of the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) program.

Last year, Bombardier was awarded the sole-source engineering and modification Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract from the USAF to modify up to six Global 6000 business jets to become E11-A BACN platforms.

“Wichita was the obvious choice as the home of Bombardier’s new U.S. Headquarters and Bombardier Defense,” said Éric Martel, President and CEO, Bombardier. “For more than 60 years, the established skills and expertise from the Air Capital of the World is second to none, and this latest confirmation from the United States Air Force is a testament to the confidence they have in our aircraft and importantly, in the strength of our people in Wichita.”

Tonya Sudduth, former Vice President of Operations at Wichita has accepted the newly created role of Head of U.S. Strategy.

Based in Wichita, Tonya will lead Bombardier’s U.S. strategy, leveraging her extensive knowledge and rich aerospace experience to build relationships with key stakeholders in the community, government and industry to further strengthen and grow Bombardier’s presence across all its sites in the U.S.

Recruitment

Between Bombardier’s service centre, flight test center and Bombardier Defense, the company is actively recruiting to immediately fill more than 180 jobs in Wichita and close to 500 jobs across the U.S.

To that end, Bombardier’s U.S Headquarters will host an open house on 23 April 2022 for employees and invited guests to showcase the site’s expansive facilities and for job applicants to meet with recruiters.