Bombardier v-p of customer support Andy Nureddin emphasized the importance of maintaining open communications and keeping employees at the center when going through a business transformation such as the one his company just undertook while it moved into a pure-play business aviation entity. “It was quite a ride in the last five years, starting with the divestiture of the CSeries and then the sale of the CRJ business, and the Dash 8,” Nureddin said on Tuesday during the opening session of the Flight Safety Foundation/NBAA Business Aviation Safety Seminar. “We’ve had a lot to contend with for sure.”

He added that some have noted that Bombardier has returned to its roots with its aviation interests beginning with Canadair, the developer of the Challenger business jet that ultimately led to the CRJ family. “The transformation was a big step in terms of the sheer amount of change that we went through with the organization over the last four to five years, but the constant in all of that was the roots of the company were solidly in business aviation. It was sort of back to the future.”

The company was able to bring along lessons learned from the experiences—and expertise—of the various business lines, he said. And Bombardier was able to benefit from the cross-pollination of the various business lines, Nureddin added, citing learning from health monitoring and big data that were on the commercial side. In addition, technology enhancements such as fly-by-wire and wing design found their way from commercial to business aviation.

Nureddin also noted that the transformation came at a good time for the business aviation business, which was on the back end of substantial investments in programs such as the Global 7500 and 5500/6500. At the same time, the business was already shifting its energies into the aftermarket, he said, adding, “transformation helped us focus on that…part.”

As for managing this change, he stressed, “It’s about leadership.” Leaders need to keep employees at the heart of a transformational effort, he said. “You’re not going to transform any business unless those individuals of that group are either leading or square in the middle of that transformation…Do not think you can transform by memo.”

While acknowledging this is easier said than done, Nureddin emphasized, “You really have to bring your people along. You have to quell their fears. Times of change are times when people are worried about their future, their livelihood.”

He called the sharing of information essential to ensuring everyone is on the same page. “It’s amazing how much stuff gets invented if you allow that void to exist.” Ultimately the employees have to be at the center because “they are going to be the engine of transformation your business.”

Leaders must be authentic, he added. “There is no room during a period of change for transformation by fiat. You cannot just command it. You have to mobilize, you have to encourage, and you have to have a steady hand as the business continues to move toward transformation.”

He called these key fundamentals to change and said they were among the biggest lessons. He further noted the importance of describing what’s on the other side. “You have to make a case for why you want to change. It’s not enough to highlight the dangers. You have to describe the other side of that change.”

Also during the forum, Nureddin expressed encouragement that as Europe continues to open up and international flying slowly stabilizes, flying will continue to normalize over the next several months. But he called it normal “with a twist”—with the “primacy of the charters and the fractionals and the role they play.”

Bombardier has seen a much stronger recovery in that segment, he said, noting more people moving into that market and finding a stronger need for such travel. “There’s been a certain stickiness to that market. In the medium term, I think you will see some of that stickiness continue.”

He likened the recovery on the business aviation end to an L-curve with “diversions along the way” and said he believes that the recovery will continue to be uneven as various Covid-19 variants continue to prevail. However, he said Bombardier has seen steady growth in the last three months in particular, with North America leading the way.