New Querétaro Aircraft Component Facility Opens

Winter 2011

On October 21, 2010, Bombardier Aerospace officially inaugurated its new Learjet 85 component manufacturing facility at the Queretaro Aerospace Park in Mexico. Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, President of Mexico, and José Calzada Rovirosa, Governor of the State of Querétaro, joined Bombardier executives to mark the official opening of this state-of-the-art facility that makes use of the latest lean manufacturing methodologies.

Component Manufacturing in Querétaro

The construction of the 185 000 ft (17,187 m) Learjet 85 component manufacturing centre in Mexico was completed in July 2010. The fabrication of development parts soon followed, and the fabrication of parts for the first aircraft is now underway. In addition, over 36 300 ft (3370 m) of existing space at the Querétaro site has been allocated to the Learjet 85 aircraft program. This brings the total Learjet 85 aircraft footprint at the Querétaro site to approximately 221,300 ft (20,560 m) in order to support composite fuselage manufacturing and wing assembly.

On target with program objectives

During the past three months, over 150 tools, including many major tools, have been fabricated and shipped to the new manufacturing site. To date, equipment installation has progressed according to plan with the completion of the clean room, freezer installation to house the composite material, and installation of three ovens.

Building on proven performance

First established in 2006, operations at Bombardier's facility in Mexico have grown to employ more than 1200 workers and include the manufacture of structural aircraft components, including the Global business jet family aft fuselage, the Q400 NextGen aircraft flight control work package and the CRJ700/900/1000 NextGen and Challenger 605/850 aircraft rudders, as well as main harnesses and electrical sub-assemblies for Bombardier business and commercial aircraft.