Bombardier CS100 takes first test flight

Bombardier's CSeries aircraft completed its maiden flight Monday, in a successful test run of a new narrow-body airplane design that promises to support Canada's aerospace sector while challenging the dominance of the industry's two giants.

Nearly 3,000 employees, suppliers and invited guests cheered as the gleaming CS100 plane quietly lifted off the runway at Mirabel airport north of Montreal in sunny skies after early morning rain ended and heavy clouds dissipated. It landed about 2 1/2 hours later after flying across the Lower Laurentians and conducting a fly past.

The company's test pilot left the airplane waving and lauding the aircraft's performance.

"It flew very well," said Chuck Ellis.

"It's a bit of a cliche but it really did fly pretty much like our predictions, like the simulators, the models that we have," he said later during a news conference.

Mike Arcamone, president of Bombardier commercial aviation, said the flight will help to convince potential customers of the aircraft's value. The company faces determined competition from industry giants Airbus and Boeing that are putting new engines on their popular planes to preserve their market share. Embraer is also updating its E2 family of jets.

"I think it will get even more competitive as people have seen across the world that there is an aircraft and it's an aircraft that is fulfilling its mission which is to be a game-changer in terms of the engine," he told reporters. The Pratt & Whitney engine promises to be quieter and help it to deliver fuel cost savings.