Bombardier considers reacquiring Spirit AeroSystems' Belfast plant

“Our priority right now is clearly to make sure that the existing contracts [for the Belfast work] will be upheld at the higher standard,” Martel told analysts during the release of its quarterly earnings on Thursday morning. “And that's why we have, on a regular basis, people in Belfast working on this priority to make sure that the material keeps flowing.”

Bombardier is monitoring the situation closely, he said. “As a customer, we're willing to provide the appropriate operational or structural or legal input to that,” Martel said, adding, “There'll be potential buyers at some point. We could also consider being one of them. We'll see what the market says, but I think what is important to us will be that whoever the buyer is, we need to be comfortable with these guys to be there for the long run. If there's nobody, we could again be considering that as an option.”

Martel did not have a timeline, deferring to Airbus’ and Boeing’s plans for closing their respective deals in mid-2025. Bombardier has not developed a team on this yet but is watching how the situation unfolds. However, Martel said he could be equally comfortable with another buyer or with Bombardier ownership.

This comes as Bombardier looks at reserve cash it has begun to accrue. During its Investor Day in May, Bombardier opened the door to possible merger and acquisition activity down the road as it accumulates free cash and continues to deleverage.

Both Martel and Bart Demosky, executive vice president and CFO, stressed that the company’s first objective remains paying off debt. "With our upcoming expected large amounts of free cash flow that we'll be delivering as a business," Demosky said, "we have lots of flexibility when it comes to how we want to deploy that capital."

The company has not yet provided guidance on which direction it will take but indicated guidance may come early next year after board meetings later this year. While he said all options are open: “Certainly debt repayment remains the number-one priority for excess free cash flow that we have at the moment. We are not going to take our eyes off of that.”

Martel agreed and cautioned against expecting any substantial acquisition “until this is done,” referring to continued debt repayment. In the interim, acquisitions could occur to shore up its supply chain.