Sarah Rose (they/them) is a news writer and reporter for AIN. 
Prior to AIN, Sarah worked as a journalist for Georgia Public Broadcasting, Georgia&#039;s statewide NPR and PBS affiliate. They have also worked for several national nonprofits and as a legislative assistant in U.S. Congress. As an openly nonbinary reporter, they are a proud member of the Trans Journalists Association. 
Sarah is a 2012 graduate of Kennesaw State University.

News Writer

Sarah Rose

Bombardier today opened its new innovation and design center in Montreal, a strategic facility focused on advancing the cabin experience for business aviation customers. The space will enable rapid development and testing of design innovations independent of aircraft program timelines.
“This is a dedicated space that allows us to focus on customer-centric innovations that will allow us to move rapidly, fail fast, iterate, and bring true, exceptional innovations to our key customers faster than we’ve ever done before,” Bombardier v-p of aircraft innovation Sean Johnson told AIN.&nbsp;Johnson added that he hopes the facility will build upon the industry’s renewed focus on design and completions work.
“This center really allows us to do this off the critical path of a major aircraft program where we can innovate on features and experiences rapidly and then deploy them to all our existing fleets—not just wait for a new, clean-sheet airplane,” he said. “There’s no doubt that, especially in business aircraft, if you want to get it right, the best thing you can do is design around the cabin at the same time you’re developing the aircraft.”
The center will house full-scale mockups and prototypes, allowing Bombardier teams to experiment, iterate, and validate concepts. Located near Bombardier’s manufacturing facilities in the Montreal area, the center aims to allow seamless collaboration between industrial designers, engineers, and upholsterers. These resources are intended to bring forward technologies more quickly while maintaining product reliability and integration ease.
“I think the decision of the location of the space was to be close to the resources and the cross-functional resources that we intend to employ. And of course, with the critical mass that we have here in Montreal, it just made the most sense for us to keep it close to all of those resources that we would draw upon when we’re doing our new designs,” Johnson said.

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.

Bombardier Opens Montreal Innovation and Design Center

New facility accelerates cabin design and testing

Bombardier launches a confidential Montreal-based center to rapidly develop and test cabin innovations ahead of integration into its aircraft portfolio.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Startups are finding new ways to reintroduce regional air transport.

New Aircraft and Flight Booking Technology Could Reinvent Regional Air Services

Amy Wilder

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Oshkosh exhibit to span jets, props, and electric aircraft

Textron Aviation Plans Record AirVenture Static Display

Charles Alcock

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.

Early use cases include logistics operations with expanded cargo volume

Air One eVTOL Is Poised for Both Uncrewed and Private Pilot Roles

Curt Epstein

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.

OEM increased its midsize bizjet deliveries by 86% year over year in the first six months

Embraer’s Praetor Deliveries Take Off in 1H2025

Jessica Reed

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

Cirrus Aircraft will invest $13M to expand the facility by 30,000 sq ft

Cirrus Expands Grand Forks Manufacturing Facility

News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

SEDC Energy and ACI Groupe plan to take equity stakes in the French start-up

VoltAero Finds Backers for Malaysian Production of Cassio Aircraft

Hanneke Weitering

Rival eVTOL developer Joby recently began flying its four-seat air taxi in Dubai

Archer Flies Midnight eVTOL Aircraft Prototype in Abu Dhabi

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

More In Aircraft