Airbus's ingenious Bombardier plan is comeuppance for Boeing

After Boeing tried to kill Bombardier's C-Series plane in its infancy, Airbus's actions secure it a sizeable stake and Bombardier wins a powerful ally

Comeuppance for a corporate bully rarely arrives so swiftly or so elegantly. Boeing attempted to kill Bombardier's C-Series plane in its infancy by getting US trade authorities to impose stiff import tariffs. Now those heavy-handed legal tactics have produced an outcome that could be damaging in the long-term for Boeing. Arch-rival Airbus has swooped from the wings to grab majority control of the C-Series and proclaim that the 300% tariffs can be side-stepped via the simple remedy of conducting the final assembly of planes destined for US customers in Alabama.

If Airbus's plan works, it's ingenious. It will get a 50.1% stake in the C-Series without paying a penny and will collect some cheap warrants on Bombardier's shares. Bombardier wins in the sense that it now has a partner with the financial muscle and supply chains to make a success of the C-Series.