Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

Bombardier manufactures a variety of business aircraft models, provides engineering, and aircraft maintenance services.

Bombardier Aerospace continues to improve its credit ratings, with the latest Moody’s upgrade from Ba3 to Ba2 with a positive outlook. The upgrade announced this week is another signal that the business jet manufacturer is moving from a deeply debt-laden company to one transitioning into growth mode.
The latest Moody’s rating followed Bombardier’s <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2026-07-30/bombardier-results-strengthen-globals-services">second-quarter earnings release </a>in which the Montreal-headquartered manufacturer reported improvements such as a $392 million year-over-year swing in free cash flow to $228 million, a $356 million reduction in net debt, a strengthened available liquidity of $1.9 billion, and access to a revolving credit facility of $750 million that replaced a previous $450 million facility.&nbsp;The company’s earliest debt maturity is now in November 2030.
All the while, Bombardier's business has improved, with a backlog ballooning by $4.3 billion since the end of 2025 to $21.8 billion by the halfway point of this year.
This is a marked change from 2021, when Bombardier had sold off the remainder of its non-business-jet-related assets and emerged as a pure-play company that was nearly buried in debt. Since then, it has shaved off more than $6 billion in debt, including $1.1 billion in the first half of this year alone. The restructuring resulted in $460 million in annual interest savings. Its long-term debt was around $4 billion at the end of June.
Bombardier president and CEO Éric Martel earlier this year declared that the company’s turnaround plan was complete. “In 2021, we set ambitious financial objectives for where we wanted to be in 2025 and further laid out the foundation for our future. I must say, at the time, we were met with some skepticism,” he told analysts. “Looking at where we are today, I am so proud to say that we’ve delivered top to bottom, even on metrics we reset upward in 2023, halfway through the journey.”
As the company released its earnings on July 30, Martel further stated: “Over the past several years we have worked diligently to strengthen our balance sheet and improve our cash generation… The good news is that we have moved from managing constraints to creating options, giving us significantly more flexibility for the future.”
As such, Bombardier has invested heavily in services and is now reaping returns, with each quarter surpassing the previous one in revenues ($674 million for the most recent quarter). At the same time, the airframer is looking for other areas to grow—both organically and through acquisition. On new products, however, it has remained quiet, although many have suggested an updated Challenger could be next.
The upgrade was the second from Moody’s in the past 12 months, noted Bombardier CFO and executive v-p Bart Demosky. “It reflects the consistent operational performance we have delivered and our sustained focus on deleveraging over recent years, as well as our strong track record of earnings growth, free cash flow generation and continued revenue diversification through our services and defense businesses,” he commented.
Demosky called the improved credit rating an “important milestone in our journey to further strengthen Bombardier's financial profile and create long-term value for all stakeholders.”
While improved, Bombardier still has work to do, according to Moody’s, which says this of its “Ba” ratings in general: “Obligations rated Ba are judged to have speculative elements and are subject to substantial credit risk.” However, the rating of a positive outlook suggests more upgrades could come, and this has been a long climb from 2020, when Moody’s assigned a Caa2-PD (Probability of Default) rating.

Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

Moody's Upgrade Bombardier Credit Rating as Balance Sheet Improves

Moody's assigned a Ba2 credit rating, up from Ba3, while maintaining a positive outlook

Bombardier Aerospace's stronger financial performance this week earned a higher credit rating from Moody's.

Moody's Upgrade Bombardier as Balance Sheet Improves

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Matt Thurber

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Decision support system helps pilots assess risks up to 14 days ahead of planned flight

PlaneWX Pilots Save with 5X5 Insurance Safety Rewards

Hanneke Weitering

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

Component sales boosted Beta’s second-quarter revenue

Beta Is Turning Its eVTOL Competitors into Customers

Charles Alcock

UK group says it will complete Valo eVTOL’s critical design review this year 

Vertical Extends Cash Runway with Fresh eVTOL Funding 

Amy Wilder

Buyers urged to seek guidance, consider financing before finding an aircraft

IADA Panel: Financing Has Evolved Beyond a Buying Tool

Howard Hardee

News and issues relating to civil and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of all kinds and sizes, including those used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat (unmanned combat air vehicles, or UCAVs), law enforcement, research and other applications. Of particular focus is the FAA's planned integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system.

Boeing takes nearly 20% stake and a board seat in all-stock deal

Archer To Acquire Wisk, Insitu, and SkyGrid from Boeing

Curt Epstein

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

County changed its rules on time spent in California

L.A. County Tightens Tax Rules on Out-of-state Aircraft

Overall preowned transactions rose 11.2% in second quarter

Preowned Heavy Jets Post Q2 Value Gains Amid Price Drop

News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.

In this article

Bombardier

More In Finance, Taxes, Insurance