Learjet will end production this year

The Learjet luxury aircraft made famous by Frank Sinatra and immortalized in songs by Pink Floyd and Carly Simon is going away. Bombardier, the Canadian company that makes the plane, said Thursday that it would stop building the plane at the end of the year — more than half-a-century after it was introduced — as it shifts attention to its more profitable and larger Challenger and Global aircraft. The move comes after Bombardier exited the business of making planes for airlines last year and completed the sale of its rail unit last month, all part of an effort to return to profitability with a more singular focus on private aircraft. “With our strategic repositioning now complete, we are very excited to embark on our journey as a pure-play business jet company,” said Éric Martel, Bombardier’s CE. The company also announced plans to cut 1,600 jobs, or about 10% of its work force. Bombardier said Thursday that it lost $568m last year and hoped to cut costs by more than $400m by 2023. The Learjet decision comes just months after the company announced the first delivery of the plane’s latest model, the Learjet 75 Liberty.<br/>