Learjet head Ralph Acs no longer with the company

Ralph Acs, who had served as vice president and general manager of Bombardier Learjet, is no longer with the company.

Acs left Bombardier as part of a broader restructuring, Acs and the company confirmed.

When contacted Friday, Acs said he was unemployed and looking for opportunities.

“I’m open to ideas,” Acs said.

Acs was responsible for the Wichita site and for the Learjet 85 program, a mid-sized business jet and the largest Learjet. He also had led the company through updating the Learjet 70 and Learjet 75 programs.

He had left Wichita for Montreal at the end of July to serve as senior vice president of supplier management on the Global 7000 and 8000 programs.

His position was eliminated in the restructuring, Bombardier spokeswoman Aurelie Sabatie said.

David Murray is now the Learjet site leader, Sabatie said. Murray is also in charge of the Learjet 70 and 75 programs.

Bombardier’s Jean Seguin is temporarily in charge of the Learjet 85 program, Sabatie said.

“Eventually, he is going to be replaced by someone,” in that role, she said.

Seguin is also head of Bombardier’s aerostructures and engineering services unit, which includes the former Short Brothers facilities in Belfast, North Ireland, facilities in Quebec and elsewhere.

Delays in the Learjet 85 program have led to job cuts in Wichita and at a Bombardier facility in Mexico.

The cuts affected about 200 people in Wichita in June.

The Learjet 85 flew for the first time in April, four months behind an already revised schedule.

A series of delays connected to systems integration issues, including software updates, initially prevented the plane from flying.

The Learjet 85, a clean-sheet design introduced in 2007, was originally scheduled to enter service in late 2013, but early last year, the date was pushed to summer of 2014.

Now, Bombardier officials are reviewing when it will make its first delivery.

The Learjet 85 remains in flight testing, Sabatie said.

“The flight test program is going on and progressing well,” she said.

It is “absolutely” flying, Sabatie said.

The Learjet 85 fits between the midsize and super mid-size segments of the business jet market and seats up to eight passengers with a crew of two.

It has a range of about 3,000 miles and a top speed of 541 mph.

It is the company’s first Learjet with a composite fuselage and wings.

In August, Bombardier restructured the company into three separate units, and dissolved its aerospace division.

This story was originally published September 5, 2014 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Learjet head Ralph Acs no longer with the company."