Bombardier's Business Aircraft division gets new leadership

David M. Coleal, President, Bombardier Business Aircraft

Bombardier's Business Aircraft division has a new president. Effective June 15, 2015, David Coleal will take over as president.

Bombardier president and CEO Alain Bellemare says Coleal will succeed Eric Martel, who is leaving the company after 13 years to pursue other career opportunities.

“[Coleal] is recognized for applying lean and critical thinking to his business to improve execution, competitiveness and financial results," says Bellemare.

Before joining Bombardier in 2008, Coleal was president and chief operating officer of Cirrus Design Corporation, and has held management positions at McKinsey and Company, Caterpillar and New United Motor Manufacturing.

Bombardier also announced Monday that it has hired procurement expert Jean-Paul Pellissier as a special adviser to conduct an extensive review of its supply chain. Pellissier is an industry veteran with 25 years of experience at Dassault Aviation. He will be focusing on improving sourcing processes and supply chain efficiency.

Last week, Bombardier announced that it was cutting 1,750 employees in Montreal, Toronto and Ireland over the coming months—a move expected to save about U$135 million a year.

Up to 1,000 of the lost jobs will be in Montreal, where Bombardier has its main operations, while 480 positions are on the chopping block in Toronto and another 280 in Belfast.

The cuts will begin in June and continue until the first quarter of 2016, said the company, which employs more than 70,000 people, about half in its aerospace division.