Bombardier Marks 40 Years of Smart Services Programs, With More Than 1,500 Aircraft Enrolled

Bombardier is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Smart Services cost-per-flight-hour programs. More than 1,500 Bombardier aircraft are now enrolled, representing more than 11 million total flight hours. The programs include Smart Services Elite and Smart Services Defense, and they cover major systems such as component exchanges, avionics, tires, brakes and corrosion protection. Every customer is assigned a dedicated account manager.

The programs trace back to Bombardier's Smart Parts program, launched in 1986, which the company says was the first in the aviation industry to offer cost-per-flight-hour coverage on airframe system components. Smart Services Elite adds expanded coverage for major components, including scheduled and unscheduled aircraft systems and landing gear overhauls, along with parts shipping, technical publications and support, a guaranteed flight-hour rate for the term (subject to annual adjustments) and Mobile Response Team (MRT) cost coverage.

Bill Molloy, Vice-President, Aftermarket Sales, Defense & Parts at Bombardier, said the programs have helped redefine customer expectations of aircraft support by delivering predictable maintenance costs, and that the company is looking ahead to the next 40 years. Bombardier has ranked at the top of the Aviation International News (AIN) Product Support Survey for three years in a row and the Professional Pilot Product Support Survey for two years in a row.

Bombardier will mark the anniversary during NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas, Nevada, from October 20 to 22, with an evening event on October 21 for customers and stakeholders. Bombardier customers operate a fleet of more than 5,200 aircraft, supported by 10 service facilities across six countries.

A program that began in 1986 as coverage for airframe system components now spans a defense-oriented variant and an expanded Elite tier. That path shows how manufacturer support in business aviation has moved from selling parts toward selling a fixed hourly cost for keeping the aircraft flying. For an owner or operator, the appeal is budgeting: a guaranteed hourly rate over the term, even with annual adjustments, turns an uneven maintenance bill into a line item.

Enrollment of more than 1,500 aircraft against a customer fleet of more than 5,200 means these programs reach a substantial share of the installed base, though the figures given do not say how many of the enrolled aircraft sit within that customer fleet. The comparison that matters in any such program is between what the hourly rate covers and what it leaves out, since coverage lists, term lengths and the annual adjustment mechanism differ from one contract to the next.

The next dated milestone is the October 21 customer and stakeholder evening at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas, where Bombardier has framed its look ahead to the next 40 years.