Bombardier names Cromer to lead commercial aircraft division

Alain Bellemare, Bombardier’s new president and chief executive officer, continues to make management changes at the company, which is facing costly delays in the development of its C Series aircraft.

Fred Cromer has been appointed president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, effective immediately, according to a news release from the company. Bombardier is the parent company of Wichita’s Learjet.

Cromer replaces Mike Arcamone, who is “leaving the company to pursue other interests,” according to the news release.

Bombardier also announced that Pierre Alary will retire as chief financial officer, but will remain in that position until a replacement is found.

Cromer spent six years president of International Lease Finance Corporation. He also served in positions with ExpressJet, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA in finance from DePaul University in Chicago.

In February, Bombardier announced Pierre Beaudoin would step down as CEO. Bellemare replaced Beaudoin.

The C Series airliner has faced repeated delays, which has created financial problems for Bombardier and eroded the value of its stock. In late February, however, company officials said they were confident that the CS100 would be certified in the second half of 2015 – with the CS300 airliner expected to follow about six months later.

Early this year, Bombardier suspended indefinitely its development of the Learjet 85. That led to about 1,000 layoffs, including about 620 in Wichita.

This story was originally published April 9, 2015 at 9:10 AM with the headline "Bombardier names Cromer to lead commercial aircraft division."