The interview: Bombardier’s Jean-Christophe Gallagher on fast-paced change in private aviation
By Jamie Nonis
“We’ve seen a tremendous change in business aviation usage,” says Jean-Christophe Gallagher, “pre- and post-pandemic.” Bombardier’s executive vice president of aircraft sales & defense appears to be invulnerable to jet lag, having touched down at 7 am that September morning after travelling halfway across the world from the United States – and looking none the worse for wear.
It’s the Singapore Grand Prix weekend and later that evening, Gallagher will be whisked off to a private client event graced by celebrity chef-restaurateur extraordinaire Wolfgang Puck and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team principal and CEO Toto Wolff. The latter, incidentally, is a long-time Bombardier customer who has in the past year also enjoyed the official title of worldwide brand ambassador of Bombardier.
The Austrian billionaire represents the archetypal profile of a Bombardier customer; a growing cohort of ultra-high-net-worth individuals defined by deep pockets and enticed by the supreme comfort, convenience and time-saving that private aviation affords.
According to Gallagher, COVID is to be credited for the upsurge in the demand for private aviation in recent years. “The uncertainty that Covid created pushed a lot of people to the safe haven that is business jets. We’ve seen 20 per cent more flying on business jets if you compare 2023 with 2019,” he notes.
As a product of the pandemic, the Canadian business jet manufacturer has registered record sales – and a record backlog of orders stretching far into this post-pandemic era. It is, after all, not difficult to imagine how hard it would be to rejoin the hoi polloi and fly commercial after tasting the high-flying world of private jets.
To date, Bombardier has delivered about 150 of its top-of-the-range Global 7500 jets since it entered service in 2018. Another billionaire, Kylie Jenner, of Kardashian-Jenner fame, reportedly owns one of these US$78 million aircraft – only the largest, most spacious and longest-range business jet in the world.
Bombardier’s flagship jet boasts an official range of 14,260km and a top speed of Mach 0.925, but it has trumped its own industry-leading figures and set the record for the world’s longest business jet flight from Singapore to Tucson in the United States (15,098km) in 2019.
“The point of private travel is the ability to go from point to point that’s closest from your point of origin and closest to your point of destination, without having to switch aeroplanes and do another leg to get to your destination,” Gallagher explains.
This is what defines Bombardier’s point of differentiation: Its jets are designed to take off from very short runways, thanks to its Smooth Flex Wing technology, therefore enabling its clients to access double the number of airports around the world, including smaller airports that are “difficult” to land or take off from.
“Why do you want a large aircraft? Because you want to be able to travel in luxury,” he says. “And why do you want to fly faster? To get to the destination as fast as you possibly can, and that’s another big trend that has really accelerated.”
The Global 7500 is certainly as luxurious as it gets at 45,000 ft, with a capacity to seat up to 19 passengers, depending on how the client chooses to configure the cabin. There are four separate living areas – the Club Suite, the Conference Suite, the Master Suite with a full-size bed, and the Entertainment Suite, which offers an unparalleled home theatre experience with the capacity for a 55-inch ultra-high resolution 4K OLED television – plus a complete kitchen and dedicated crew suite.
It also features the Nuage seat, the industry’s first zero-gravity seating position ergonomically engineered to reduce lower back pressure, improve blood flow and provide better neck support. “We’re seeing a lot more requests from our customers for the most comfortable environment possible inside that big cabin,” says Gallagher.
At this level of affluence, material comfort is non-negotiable, and true luxury often lies in the intangible.
“It’s quite amazing how quiet this aircraft is. It allows for a much more relaxing flight; your sleep is deeper and your overall mood is better,” he adds. To this end, Bombardier has also equipped the cabin with the Soleil lighting system – a brilliant innovation to help combat jet lag. It’s the first circadian rhythm-based cabin lighting technology in aviation, designed to assist in regulating the sleep-wake cycle and help synchronise passengers’ circadian rhythms to the time at their destination.
Cabin altitude, says Gallagher, is another important albeit invisible aspect of air travel with hidden effects on physical comfort.“ When you’re flying 45,000 ft in the air, what’s the altitude that you truly experience inside the cabin? The lower the cabin altitude is, the less difficult it is for your body to go through that experience and function,” he elaborates.
In the Global 7500, the cabin altitude is 4,500 ft. And in the forthcoming Global 8000, which will supersede the Global 7500 as the fastest business jet in the skies when it enters service in 2025, the cabin altitude will be 2,900 ft. at 41,000 ft. – the lowest in the industry.
“Those are altitudes where you don’t feel the difference to being on the ground. What this means is, after an 18-hour flight, you will be a lot more rested at your destination. Isn’t that the ultimate luxury?” he concludes.
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