Bombardier has become one of the most notable business jet manufacturers in modern private aviation. Bombardier Aviation was formed after its parent division acquired Canadair in 1986. The company had been dealing with financial struggles and recorded the largest corporate loss in Canadian history in the prior year.
The company bowed out of commercial aviation and now focuses solely on business jets. Canadair had become popular for its development of the Challenger 600 business jet . This aircraft was originally designed by the famous aircraft designer Bill Lear in the 1970s.
Lear, the founder of Learjet , received backing from Canadair in 1975 to begin the development process. Canadair took over the extensive design and flight testing program and the aircraft was eventually certified by both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transport Canada in 1980. However, the aircraft certification program was long and expensive, which contributed to the financial struggles of Canadair.
After Bombardier acquired Canadair, it continued to advance the Challenger 600 series as a private jet. It also helped the company develop the Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) in the 1990s, which would end up becoming one of the world's most popular regional jets. In addition to the Challenger series, Bombardier also began developing the Global series of private jets .
This private jet series has become one of the most popular lines of large and ultra-long-range business jets, with the introduction.