The aviation giant had reportedly been in talks with United Airlines about a 30-aircraft order for its widely praised, but slow selling, C-Series airliner.
Unfortunately for Bombardier, it looks as if Boeing and its 737-700 will end up taking home the $2 billion order sheet, Reuters reports.
Industry sources told Reuters that Boeing's ability to offer a slightly larger aircraft and greater discounts gave it the edge over Bombardier.
With that said, it's not quite a done deal. Boeing and United are said to be in final negotiations, so things may yet change.
Boeing declined to comment on the reported deal. A United representative told Business Insider the airline did "not discuss its future fleet plans."
Bombardier, which recently filed a request for further financial assistance from the Canadian government, is in desperate need for a headline-grabbing deal with a major airline to inject some new life into the C-Series project.
The Canadian airplane maker has been fighting to recover from a tough 2015 in which the company was forced to write down $4.4 billion and take a $1.3 billion bailout.
One of the linchpins to Bombardier's turnaround strategy is to revive sales of the C-Series. The company has gone more than a year without registering a new order for its flagship product.
Though the C-Series is expected to enter service later this year with Swiss Global Air Lines, Bombardier still does not have an order from a major North American carrier. Bombardier hoped a United deal would be the one to right the ship. But not all hope is lost: Bombardier is said to also be in talks with JetBlue over a potential C-Series order.
(Benjamin Zhang - Business Insider)
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