Four days before President Donald Trump offered to help a Canadian aviation company he had previously threatened to shut out of the American market, Bombardier announced approximately $50 million in investments at its Wichita, Kansas, operations.
The October 15 package includes a newly opened technical training centre, an expanded wheel-and-tire repair shop, and additional planned capabilities. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly said Bombardier’s Wichita presence includes its US headquarters, defense business, and 1,500 jobs.
At a recent campaign rally in Park City, near Wichita, Trump credited Republican Senator Roger Marshall with calling him about a Canadian aviation company.
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“But now I find out they have a presence here, and we’re not hurting them if they’re in Kansas,” Trump said, according to The Guardian.
He did not name Bombardier, identify any regulatory change, or explain what assistance the company would receive.
On September 7, Trump declared on Truth Social, Reuters reported, that Bombardier should no longer sell aircraft in the US unless it built them domestically. He also wrote that the company’s products were not good enough.
That criticism followed a different assessment five days earlier. During September 2 remarks about Canada’s certification of competing Gulfstream jets, Trump described Gulfstream and Bombardier as “both good planes, very good planes,” according to the official presidential transcript.
Reuters reported that aviation lawyers questioned how the administration could block deliveries of aircraft already certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to Bombardier, it employs approximately 3,500 people across the US and spends about $2.5 billion with American suppliers. Its US operations include aircraft servicing, component production, and work adapting jets for defense missions.
Kansas Republicans had raised that exposure with Washington weeks before Trump’s latest comments. On September 8, Reuters reported Marshall saying he had already brought the matter into the Oval Office. Fellow Republican Senator Jerry Moran also contacted the administration, while Marshall’s Democratic election opponent, Adam Hamilton, criticized the threat.
Bombardier’s announcement said its Wichita improvements focus on maintenance skills, parts overhaul, and other site capabilities. The company’s training centre and recently expanded repair shop form part of the approximately $50 million program, which includes planned investments.
The timing puts an existing American expansion alongside a new political assurance. Bombardier shares finished Monday at approximately $311.47, up 1.13%, before Trump spoke.
