Ross Marowits
THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL – Aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Inc., already hit by one US$77-million claim, says it has been in discussions with operators of its Q400 turboprop about potential compensation resulting from problems with the landing gear.
However, the Montreal-based company refused to comment Wednesday on the nature of those talks after Swedish airline group SAS AB became the first to go public with its desire to claim $77 million for costs and lost income.
"We've had a significant amount of dialogue with our customers over the course of these incidents and the dialogue is varied in nature, but we consider that to be confidential conversation between us and our customers at this point in time," Bombardier (TSX: BBD.B) spokesman John Arnone said in an interview.
Asked if the conversations included the topic of compensation, he replied: "Yes."
SAS, which was the Q400's launch customer in 2000, said eight of its grounded planes will return to service over the coming days.
That would mean 90 per cent of the 165 Q400s in service around the world will return to regular flights, said Arnone.
SAS grounded its entire fleet of Q400 turboprops last month after two accidents in Denmark and Lithuania in which planes of that type crash-landed with landing gear malfunctions. No one was seriously injured.
A preliminary report suggested the internal threads of the retraction/extension actuator piston revealed corrosion.
"The incidents were caused by flaws in components not included in the maintenance manual. This is why we feel the responsibility lies with Bombardier," said SAS spokesman Hans Ollongren.
The company will start its compensation talks with the Canadian plane maker shortly, he said, without giving a more specific timeframe.
Ollongren said SAS has lost around US$62 million since the grounding of its turboprop fleet. "But there are other costs involved, too, related to credibility and other things."
He declined to comment on whether SAS plans to sue Bombardier, saying only that "we'll start with discussions. We won't go into methods yet."
SAS will start flying its turboprops again Thursday after a three-week stoppage for maintenance and inspections of the planes.
Bombardier shares were down 10 cents or 1.62 per cent to $6.08 in trading Wednesday afternoon on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
