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Why Bombardier's $8B Attempt to Break the Boeing/Airbus Duopoly Failed
- d_e_solomon 10mo agoThe aircraft industry is one of the clearest case studies of how capital intensity, long development cycles, and political pressure create near-unbreakable duopolies. Bombardier spent around $7–8B developing the CSeries, but a steep discount to Delta triggered a 300% U.S. tariff, killing the program. Airbus later acquired it for $1. I wrote a breakdown of what went wrong; engineering missteps, cost overruns, government intervention, and why COMAC may be the only realistic future challenger.