Bombardier Business Aircraft is continuing to build on its customer support efforts, with new technicians and capabilities and expanded customer outreach events.

The company’s service center network has hired nearly 200 technicians and project managers over the last four months. The increase in hiring comes as the company supported more than 9,000 maintenance events in 2016, a 20 percent jump from the previous year.

“We value our customers’ peace of mind, which is why we have invested tremendously in our customer support network, adding more customer response trucks in the U.S., expanding our capabilities and hiring close to 200 additional highly skilled technicians and project managers across the network," said Jean-Christophe Gallagher, vice president and general manager of customer experience.

In addition to its increasing service center capabilities, the company has planned a slate of customer events this year, including its Maintenance and Operations (M&O) Europe Conference that is under way this week in Prague. In all, the events include nine customer briefings, eight customer advisories and the Safety Standdown that will be held from October 31 to November 2.

The M&O Europe conference, which runs from April 3 to 6, brings together customers and operators to provide an update of latest improvements and detail other information on Bombardier aircraft.

"These events are an excellent forum for Bombardier customers and operators to provide feedback on our products and services, so we can continue to deliver exceptional products and unparalleled service to our customers," Gallagher said. "We are not only expanding our worldwide support network and adding value throughout the aircraft's lifecycle, but also increasing safety awareness during specially tailored sessions."

The conference includes a new "Safety First" series of briefings that are designed promote and raise awareness on issues that affect safety in aviation operations. The briefings emphasize the importance of instilling a strong and disciplined culture of safety and human factors awareness.