Bombardier Inc. (BBDB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Interpreted] Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. My name is Pierre Beaudoin, and I'm the Chairman of the Board of Bombardier. Welcome to this annual shareholders assembly. This year, our assembly, of course, is being held in a very special context, given constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This health crisis has hit Québec and Montreal very hard. Montreal, where we have our headquarters. I'd like to point out the great work put in by the thousands of health care workers in Québec and elsewhere in the world as well, who have been on the front lines, taking care of persons affected by the virus and helping the most vulnerable citizens amongst us. On behalf of Bombardier and all the employees, thank you for your courage and your remarkable dedication. As with other companies, Bombardier has wanted to participate in this collective struggle against COVID-19. Notably, we have made donations of thousands of personal protection equipment kits to the different governments, our engineers have designed or supported the manufacturing of thousands of visors or artificial respirators, and we have used our aircraft for carrying medical supplies or humanitarian missions. The J.A. Bombardier foundation has also donated more than $600,000 to different organizations. I'd like to thank our employees for their spirit of solidarity, their sense of initiative, and their exemplary dedication during this difficult period. We are all very proud of you. Regarding now the families and friends of the too numerous victims of COVID-19, my more -- my most sincere condolences. Given this very particular context, we decided -- as is the case with many listed companies, we decided, therefore, to hold a virtual assembly to ensure the safety and good health of our shareholders and our personnel as well. So welcome to participants joining us today via live webcast. While we are not able to meet with participants in person today, our goal is to ensure that you might fully participate in the assembly. I'll invite all registered shareholders and proxy holders to ask questions and vote on each question on the agenda, as if you were present in person. The assembly will mostly be held in French, but I'd like to say a few words of welcome in English as well. Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. My name is Pierre Beaudoin, and I am the Chairman of the Board of Bombardier. Welcome to Bombardier's Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Given the extraordinary context, we have decided as most public companies to hold our meeting virtually to ensure the health and safety of our shareholders and employees. I would, therefore, like to welcome the participants who are joining us today by live webcast. While we are not in a position to meet with participants in person, our goal is to ensure that you can fully participate in the meeting. I invite you -- I invite all registered shareholders and proxy holders to ask questions and vote on each agenda item as if you were present in person. Our meeting will be held mainly in French. However, a simultaneous translation is available on the live webcast, and you will be permitted to ask any question in either French or English. At the top right side of your screen, you can choose to listen to the meeting in English, in French or in its integral live version. [Interpreted] I'd like to take a few moments to give you a few instructions so you can fully participate in this assembly. I'll remind you that you have to be connected online, at all times, so that you won't miss anything and so that you can ask questions and vote at the opportune moment. Only registered shareholders and duly appointed proxies can ask questions and vote during the assembly. The screen on the left on the web broadcast screen, lets you exercise your rights as a shareholder which is to say, ask questions and vote. During the assembly, I'll refer you to the 3 icons at the top of this screen. There's an information icon, which gives you instructions on the assembly, including on -- including asking questions and voting. The question icon will let you ask questions, and the voting icon lets you see the proposals and vote on these proposals. I'd like to stipulate that there's a certain delay in terms of the webcast. So it's very important that proxy holders and shareholders should submit their questions as soon as possible so that we can deal with them at the right moment during the assembly. If you would like to ask a question, click on the question icon on the webcast platform. Please read the instructions under the icon labeled information before you submit your question. In particular, let us know if your question has to do with a question or a matter on the agenda of the assembly or if it's of a more general nature. Also, please include your name and your coordinates. We will try to deal with the questions that have to do directly with the proposals on the agenda at the opportune moment during the assembly. More general questions will be kept aside for the question-and-answer period that will follow the end of the formal assembly. Once again, for shareholders who wish to do so, I'd like to invite you to ask your questions as soon as possible. And questions will have to be on topic and concern only Bombardier's business and its activities and should not be of a personal nature. Our webcast suppliers will keep a register of all the questions submitted so that, if we're short of time and we have not been able to answer your question, we will answer these questions after the assembly, insofar as you will have supplied us with your coordinates and your name when you submit your question. Voting procedures will be explained in a moment. Before beginning, I'd like to attract your attention to the usual disclaimers and warnings that appear on the screen. During this presentation, we may make statements that are forward-looking or prospective, regarding events in the future or perhaps the future financial performance of the corporation. A number of hypotheses were formulated while we were preparing the forward-looking statements, but we'd like to point out that there are risks and that real events and performance may differ substantially from the forward-looking statements made today. I make this declaration on my own behalf, as well as on behalf of each person who will speak today and make such forward-looking statements. So we can begin. Firstly, I'd like to introduce the persons who will help me during this assembly. We have Counsel, Steeve Robitaille, Senior VP for Legal Affairs and Secretary for the corporation; Mr. John Di Bert, Senior VP and CFO; and Mr. Éric Martel, CEO, to whom I would like once again, to wish a warm welcome amongst us. I'd like to discuss the Board's decision to anticipate a change in leadership earlier this year. As you know, Bombardier undertook a deep overhaul of the company 5 years ago. The Board considered that this transformation was not only necessary to ensure sustainability of the corporation, but also to give ourselves a operational and financial performance that is a reflection of our -- the talent of our employees and shareholder expectations as well. The Board was not satisfied with the performance the corporation has shown over the past 18 months. It had become clear that this performance would not let us meet with our ambitious objectives that we had communicated at the time and, which were the source of our -- or the reason for our transformation plan. This is why we decided to divest our Transport division as well as some of the aircraft activities. The sale of Transportation was a very difficult decision that was a long thought through by the Board. In February 2019, the Board of Directors put together a working group, composed mostly of independent administrators to help management assess certain options and strategic solutions for the corporation so that we can come to some options that would allow us to reinforce our financial position or reposition ourselves on the path to durable growth. We trust that we made the right choice, both for Bombardier's future as a company concentrating on business jets, as well as for the future of our Transportation employees who will continue with that adventure under the leadership of Alstom. So as we are beginning a new chapter in our history, the Board's members have unanimously concluded that it was the right moment to invite a new leader to come and manage the corporation. As I have had an opportunity to say before, Éric Martel is the right leader at the right time for Bombardier. Éric has spent more than 13 years at Bombardier before leaving to lead Hydro-Québec. He has a deep knowledge of our organization, our culture and our products, as well as the worldwide industry of -- business jet industry. He's been very successful in his career, thanks to his concern for operational excellence, his tight management of complex manufacturing processes, and his personalized approach to customer relations. We're very proud to have him with us once again, and I thank him for having accepted to take up this challenge, even if the current context is very difficult. Éric will have an opportunity to speak to you about his vision and his priorities for the coming year a little later on during the assembly. On behalf of the Board, I'd like to thank all of our employees and their families, both in Aviation and Transportation for their staunch, stalwart support over the past few years. More especially, I'd like to salute the employees who today have become a part of new organizations such as Airbus, MHI, Spirit or Alstom, as well as CAE and Longview. You should know that you occupy a very special place in our heart and in our history. You contributed to the construction and development of Bombardier and ensured its growth across all these years. Together, we've had major success, such as the regional aircraft market developments, the C Series aircraft, and the development of the largest manufacturer of rail equipment in the world. We're all very proud of this. A corporation's life is not static. Across the years, companies evolve, they change and adapt to circumstances. This is the case with Bombardier, who for almost 80 years now, has moved from recreational products to transportation to commercial aircraft. Under Éric's leadership and that of his team, our focus will now be on positioning ourselves as the worldwide leader in the business jet market with a solid financial position and a sustainable growth strategy, rather. Let's get back now to the agenda that has brought us together today. I will act as the chair for this assembly and Counsel Robitaille will act as secretary. Exceptionally, this year, we will have a moderator helping us whose task will be to inform the assembly of the questions that we are receiving online. Mr. Olivier Marcil, VP for External Relations, will act as a moderator for this assembly. I have before me a copy of the call of the Notice of Assembly and the related documents, as well as an Affidavit from Counsel Robitaille confirming that these were sent to shareholders through the access and notification procedures. I will ask him to file these documents with the assemblies file. I'd like to point out that this annual shareholders assembly was called together to deal with specific questions set out in the Notice of Assembly. A simple majority of votes expressed by Class A shareholders with multiple rights or Class B shareholders voting together through proxy or in the assembly through the webcast, will constitute approval for each of the questions on the agenda. Mr. Steve Gilbert and Madame Claire Girard from Computershare Investor Services, will be scrutineers for this assembly. According to the report that they have handed in, following the beginning of the assembly, they have confirmed that we have the required quorum regarding shareholders represented either in person, via webcast or by proxy for this assembly. I'd like to ask Counsel Robitaille to deposit the report in the assembly's documents file. So I declare this Annual Bombardier Shareholder Meeting, duly and validly constituted. As is the case every year, we are encouraging voting ahead of time. If you voted already, you'll have nothing to do. However, any registered shareholder, as well as any duly appointed proxy who has not yet voted who would like to change their vote, will be able to vote directly on the live webcast platform. I declare that the vote is now open. You'll see the vote icon appear on the webcast platform as well as all the proposals on the assembly's agenda. I'll remind you that nonregistered shareholders who have not appointed themselves as proxies, will not be able to virtually exercise their voting rights during the online assembly. However, you may listen to the assembly by connecting to the webcast platform as a guest. I'll invite now Counsel Robitaille to examine with you the methodology for our vote today.

[Interpreted] Those amongst you who are registered shareholders or registered proxies with a voting right, may access the proposals and vote on them. The number of proposals for which you will be called upon to vote is -- appears at the top of the screen. The vote will be accessible for all proposals and at all times during the formal part of this assembly. So you can vote immediately whenever each proposal appears or you may wait and vote for all proposals at once after the final point on the agenda has been subject to a vote, which is to say just before we mention a 1-minute delay before we close the vote. You will be able to change your vote until we close the voting period. All represented votes made -- cast by proxies or registered shareholders will be accounted for and added to those received by proxy, and the preliminary voting results will be presented on the screen at the end of the formal part of the assembly. A report on final voting results will be available on SEDAR, and a report on the final results of the Directors' election will be communicated by press release. If you've already voted before the assembly, you will no -- you no longer have to vote today because we've already counted your vote amongst the total of proxies received so far. If you want to change your vote, however, the virtual vote will automatically cancel your previous vote.

[Interpreted] I now submit the consolidated financial statements for Bombardier for the fiscal year ending 31st December, 2019, as well as the independent auditor's report on these financial statements as well as the annual financial report to shareholders. These financial statements have been made available to shareholders beforehand through the call to assembly and access procedures. However, since these documents have been publicly filed, compliant with the law, I will not ask Counsel Robitaille to read the statements. However, I'll ask him to deposit an example or a copy of all these documents in the assemblies file. Mr. Marcil, have we received any questions relative to this?

[Interpreted] We have received no questions on this particular point, Mr. Chair.

[Interpreted] Thank you. Now we'll move on to the election for Bombardier's Directors. Bombardier's management proposes the election of 13 Directors. As mentioned in the circular, Mr. Pierre Marcouiller will leave the Board of Directors at the end of this assembly, after having sat at the Board for 3 years. On your behalf, and on behalf of all of his colleagues here on -- at the Board, I'd like to thank you for his precious collaboration. May I now have a proposal for the election of these 13 nominees?

[Interpreted] My name is [ Marie-Claire Bergére Parquette ], I'm a Bombardier shareholder. I propose that each of the 13 following persons be elected as Director of Bombardier until the next annual shareholder assembly or until the election or a nomination of a successor. Pierre Beaudoin, Joanne Bissonnette, Charles Bombardier, Martha Finn Brooks, Diane Fontaine, Diane Giard, Anthony R. Graham, August W. Henningsen, Éric Martel, Douglas R. Oberhelman, Vikram Pandit, Antony N. Tyler, Beatrice Weder di Mauro.

[Interpreted] Does anyone want to second this proposal?

[Interpreted] Mr. Chairman, my name is [ Marie Genevieve Kleux Von Amer ], Bombardier shareholder, and I second this proposal.

[Interpreted] The proposal was duly presented and seconded. Mr. Marcil, are there any questions tied to this particular proposal?

[Interpreted] Mr. Chair, no questions have been sent regarding this proposal.

[Interpreted] Thank you. We are now ready to move on to the vote. So you'll have to decide on the election of the 13 nominees who have been proposed as Directors. I would ask Mr. Robitaille to proceed with the vote.

As Mr. Beaudoin mentioned, you have to vote for each of the 13 nominees according to the methodology that I explained earlier. The names of the 13 candidates can be found on the web broadcast platform.

We will now proceed with a choice of independent auditors for Bombardier for the fiscal year underway. Also, you'll have to authorize the Board to establish their compensation. The Board and senior management at Bombardier are recommending that we choose Ernst & Young as independent auditors for Bombardier. Can I have a proposal to this effect?

[Interpreted] Mr. Chair, my name is [ Marie-Claire Bergére Parquette ], I'm a Bombardier shareholder. I propose we choose Ernst & Young as independent auditors for Bombardier for the current fiscal year, and that their mandate should last until the end of the next assembly -- annual shareholders' assembly and that the Board Director -- Board, rather, of Directors be granted authorization to establish the compensation.

[Interpreted] Does anyone want to second this proposal?

[Interpreted] [ Marie des Genevieve Klepeaux ], I support this proposal.

[Interpreted] The proposal was duly presented and seconded. Mr. Marcil, are there any questions received in with regard to this proposal?

[Interpreted] We've received no chair -- no questions, rather, Mr. Chair.

[Interpreted] Thank you. Now we're ready to move on to the vote. I'll ask Counsel Robitaille to hold the vote.

[Interpreted] Please vote on regarding the nomination of Ernst & Young as independent auditors for Bombardier. The agenda stipulates that shareholders or proxies should be invited to vote for or against the nonbinding advisory resolution regarding Bombardier's approach for compensation of senior management. You may read the text of this resolution on Page 17 of the circular. As explained in the circular, the approach adopted by Bombardier aims at maximizing the corporation's overall performance by relying on individual performance from its senior managers. It has, as a goal, to recruit, to keep in place and to motivate senior managers in order to improve the company's performance and increase shareholder value. And this supports Bombardier's commitment to performance-based compensation policies.

[Interpreted] My name is [ Marie-Claire Bergre Parquette ], I'm a Bombardier shareholder. I propose adopting the nonbinding proposal regarding Bombardier's approach to compensation for the members of senior management as it reads on Page 17 of the circular.

[Interpreted] Can shareholder, proxies second this proposal?

[Interpreted] [ Marie Genevieve Klepeaux ], I'm a shareholder at Bombardier and I support -- I second this motion.

[Interpreted] The proposal has been duly presented and second, Mr. Marcil, have we received questions having to do with this proposal?

[Interpreted] We've received a comment from Willie Gagnon. On behalf of the MÉDAC, the Movement for Education and Defense of Shareholders. Mr. Chair, we normally would have expected the departure of a CEO, whose mandate was not to liquidate the company, if we rely on what was said when he was hired at this assembly. We didn't think this would justify this huge compensation that we have seen recently on his leaving the company. We understand that these compensation elements had been approved in principle in the past, and we opposed this in the past. But now we can only continue to be opposed to these exaggerated compensation packages. So we suggest all shareholders vote against the corporation's policy in this regard because we consider that this is a cynical policy at this period where Québec corporations seem to be sold. This is a terrible situation for a number of years. We've been very dissatisfied and very sad to see these companies dismembered in such a way. Thank you.

[Interpreted] I won't go into detail regarding the basis of our compensation policy because this is available in the circular. The Board makes its decisions on the basis of market forces and a group of comparable corporations as well as its in-depth knowledge of industry practices. The Board has helped in this task by consultants in compensation and legal counsel as well. And a great part of Bombardier's managers' compensation, which is to say 80% is tied to the company's performance in the interest of our shareholders. In 2019, the total compensation the -- for the 5 senior -- most senior managers, their compensation was reduced by 20% relative to 2018. The majority of these members included Mr. Bellemare, of course, who received no bonus in 2019. Regarding his departure, the Board abided by the company's contractual stipulations, everything -- and these had been negotiated in good faith. And they're not atypical. If you take the time to compare these with what other corporations are paying to senior management. Are there other questions? No? Now we want to examine a shareholder proposal submitted by the Movement for Education and Defense of Shareholders, the MÉDAC. Oh, we have not voted. I'm sorry. Yes. That's what I was thinking. Let's return to the proposal concerning compensation policy. We'll have to vote on this now. Steeve?

[Interpreted] Yes. You're invited to vote now on the nonbinding resolution regarding Bombardier's policy compensation for senior management. Given that this is an advisory resolution, the results of the vote will not bind the Board. However, the HR committee members will take account of the -- of this vote in their future examination of the principles, policies and programs governing senior managers' compensation.

[Interpreted] This takes us now to an examination of another shareholder proposal submitted by the Movement for Education and Defense of Shareholders, the MÉDAC, to be presented to the assembly and be voted upon. The full text of the shareholders' proposal and its justifications can be found on Annex B or -- of the circular. MÉDAC has also submitted 2 other proposals, which will not be subjected to a vote today. The MÉDAC, having consented to their withdrawal, as explained in the circular. The full text of the shareholder proposals in question and the justifications underlying them are also found in Annex B of the circular. The Board of Directors recommends that you reject the proposal, subject to a vote, for the reasons set out in Annex B of the circular. As you may have read before the assembly, it is not necessary, therefore, to read it here today. I will invite our moderator now, Mr. Marcil, who will read the letter of comments and filed by MÉDAC, and I'll invite a representative of MÉDAC to make a proposal so that we can vote on it.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Willie Gagnon for the MÉDAC, submitted a motion on the shareholders' proposals that Mr. [ John Chambers ], a shareholder, supports. We now read the letter received from MÉDAC, and I quote "Mr. Chairman, good morning to all, my name is Willie Gagnon, I'm talking on behalf of the MÉDAC shareholder, Bombardier, Inc. [ and ] has submitted 3 shareholder proposals to Bombardier this year of this number and with your consent. One single -- one will then be subject to a vote. The MÉDAC, dissatisfied by the answer given by the company to its shareholders proposal on the ESG environmental, social, let's say, governance in regard to compensation, especially on the basis of its response on the Page 78 of the circular." The Board of Directors, and I quote again, and [ they say HR ] can adjust the payments and its virtual attributions if they decide that the circumstances justify it, especially to take into account important factors, such as risk, behavior, compliance or noncompliance, it turns out political norms and responsibilities of the company, including those related to helping cover the sustainable development and factors related to the ESG", end of quote. MÉDAC has also agreed not to demand holding a vote on the abolition of the multiple vote plan given what happened with ceasing recently of Bombardier Transport. Furthermore, our shareholders' proposal had to calculate its results by vote by class -- action class can be subject to vote again this year. This proposal has been submitted several years now, and it uptakes a substantial support of the past. We will not repeat all the numerous arguments in favor of our position. On this question, we won't tell you that it's a simple or not costly measure to take, but it is important to mitigate the distorted [ resourced effects ] created by the multiple vote and we would simply mention that this proposal was supported by Cogeco, Québecor and finally, Power Corporation. We invite, of course, all shareholders to vote in favor of the proposal, and we also invite the management, including the Board, to support it all. So we would be very happy if this were the case. End of the MÉDAC letter.

[Interpreted] Thank you. As I mentioned, the Board of Directors have the -- expressed its recommendation, which you can find in Supplement B of Circular 2020, a motion was prepared on the MÉDAC motion and Counsel Robitaille will explain our position. I invite you to take a position on the MÉDAC's proposal.

[Interpreted] Registered shareholders and proxy holders are now invited to vote for or against the adoption of the resolution approving, and ratifying, and confirming certain modifications of Regulation 1 of Bombardier, allowing to have a shareholders' meeting with more modern communication methods such as phone or electronic means or others. You can read the deck of this motion at Page 18 of the circular. As explained in detail in the circular, the Board of Directors has approved on May 6, 2020, some modification of Regulation 1 of Bombardier, whose goal is to allow holding virtual shareholders meeting. I would like to specify that it is not in the intention of the company to abandon holding meetings by shareholders can be physically present, quite the contrary. These will be the standard and norm for Bombardier. The modification of Regulation 1, its only goal is -- bylaw 1 is to allow the company to hold virtual meetings if circumstances require, for example, for the health and safety of shareholders, or of our employees, or if other parties might be involved. The full text of this amended bylaw 1 is to be found in Supplement C of the circular. May I receive a proposal to adopt this motion?

[Interpreted] Mr. Chairman, my name is [ Claire Bergére Parquette ], I'm a shareholder. I propose to adopt the motion concerning some changes Bylaw #1, reproduced at Page 18 of the circular.

[Interpreted] Is there a shareholder or proxy holder who supports that proposal?

[Interpreted] Mr. Chairman, my name is [ Marie des Genevieve Klepeaux ]. I'm a shareholder and I second this proposal.

[Interpreted] Duly submitted and seconded. Do we have any questions?

[Interpreted] Mr. Chairman, we do not have particularly any questions on this motion.

[Interpreted] Thank you. And now we're ready to vote. The Board of the Directors recommend, as shareholders or proxy holders, to vote in favor of this motion. I would now like to add Mr. Robitaille to hold the vote.

[Interpreted] I would like to invite you to take a position on the resolution pertaining to some modifications to Bylaw 1 of Bombardier, allowing holding shareholders' meetings with more modern communication tools.

[Interpreted] We now have covered all the questions submitted to the formal part of the assembly. We will be closing the vote in 1 minute on all these issues. If you haven't done it yet, please submit your vote. And we'll take a brief break to allow you to vote. [Voting]

[Interpreted] I confirm that the voting period is now over. Scrutineers have confirmed the preliminary results. They are the following. All Directors were elected to the Board. I congratulate them, and thank the Board of Directors for its governance and its monitoring. Thank you for your contribution and your advice, which allow Bombardier to continue to show leadership in the rail and aeronautics sector. The mandate of Ernst & Young was renewed. A majority of votes was in favor of the nonbinding resolution pertaining to Bombardier's project aimed at compensation of the named -- of its executives, and I declare it adopted. A majority of voices rejected the MÉDAC shareholder proposal. I declare this motion to be rejected. The majority of voices or votes was in favor of the resolution pertaining to some modifications to Bylaw 1 of Bombardier. Notably, the possibility of holding shareholders' meetings with more modern communication methods, it is therefore adopted. A report on the final results of the votes will be made available on SEDAR, and a report on the final results of the election of Board Directors will be published by press release. Now that we've dealt with all the points on the agenda, I propose to close the formal part of our meeting before hearing CEO speech, Mr. Éric Martel, followed by a Q&A period. I declare the assembly adjourned. I'd like to invite our CEO, Mr. Éric Martel, to give a speech.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, Pierre, and hello, everyone. It's a privilege and an honor for me to be with you today and to speak to you for the first time as CEO of Bombardier. First, I'd like to thank Pierre and the Board of Directors for giving me the opportunity to lead this outstanding company that represents Québec's innovation all over the world. I've always had a considerable passion for Bombardier flight technology products, for the creativity of its craftsman and its impact all over the world. Today, I am just happy that I've been given the opportunity to reshape this Québec flagship and help it take flight so it can, once again, be a great symbol of pride for all of us. [ This morning, I'll share some of my thoughts and observations ] for the past 11 weeks since I rejoined Bombardier. I'll also highlight our key priorities for the near-term as we continue to manage through the COVID crisis and look beyond to the future. But first, I think it is important that I start by saying that I fully recognize and appreciate that Bombardier's recent financial performance has disappointed shareholders. While much progress has been made to streamline and focus the business, we have not met our financial targets and your expectations. Moreover, repeated program delays and technical challenges have tarnished our reputation for operational excellence. And we understand that our performance has shaken the confidence of many stakeholders. This is unacceptable, especially for a company with such a long and distinguished history as Bombardier. So I have given the clear message inside the company that we must, again, become predictable in our performance and that we must move with urgency to restore our reputation and culture around operational excellence. [Interpreted] Our recent performance was not acceptable, and I understand the disappointment of our shareholders. Our mandate is clear to make Bombardier, a strong company, reliable and sustainable. This will start by establishing some clear priorities by being aspirant as to the challenges we face and by offering a stable and predictable performance quarter-after-quarter. I am convinced that we can attain this goal with our product portfolio, and thanks to the help of our thousands of talented and passionate employees who want to be part of a winning team. Obviously, our deeds and not simply our words, which will help you trust in our future. The good news is that after only a few months, I've already had the opportunity to see in our employees, all the talent, determination and intensity necessary to transform our objectives into tangible results. I'm sure it's top of your mind for everyone listening today, the impact of COVID pandemic on Bombardier. As I shared with investor and analysts during our first quarter earning calls, the COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges around the world, for our communities, for our customer and also for our company. It is clear that we are facing a new reality, and it's critical that we embrace this new reality very quickly. This means making some hard decision and changing the way we operate and how we move forward. And this is exactly what we are doing. You will recall that when the crisis began to unfold, we acted swiftly to protect the health and safety of our employees, to support government mandates to slow the spread of the virus, and to service our customer to the best of our ability. We also managed our operation to reduce costs, preserve cash and ensure sufficient liquidity. I am very proud of the way the entire Bombardier team has and continues to respond to the crisis. There were many great examples of leadership across our company, and I would like to highlight and recognize just a few, starting with the Bombardier site leaders and team members who worked tirelessly to ensure that we have the right procedures and safeguards in place to protect our employees around the world as we resume operation over the past few weeks. This include implementing remote work wherever possible, developing best-in-class safety and cleaning protocols in our plants, service center and other facilities. And for employees personally affected, we've made additional support available to allow them to take care of themselves and their families. [Interpreted] I am quite proud of Bombardier's employees who supported our clients in our community despite the pandemic. I'm referring to our colleagues on the ground who make sure that [ public transit ] remains operational. I mentioned also employees working to help the first-line interveners, the equipment -- protecting equipment that they need. This includes a production of more than 40,000 visors. This support to manufacturing 30,000 respirators that gives [ hospitals ] the -- of the protective equipment for governments, the use of our business fleet for immediate -- [ air ] transportation and gifts of more than $600,000 for our philanthropic arm. This is for the [ Foundation de J. Armand ] Bombardier to support medical refer in our most vulnerable communities. Obviously, in a few days, we were able to make a transition from making planes and business planes to make protection equipment essential to our workers. This reflects the competency and the commitment of our employees. Many things have changed in Bombardier the past few years. But the devotion of our employees, their -- towards our clients and our communities are stronger than ever. [Foreign Language] [ Since rejoining Bombardier, my primary focus ] has been on managing the business through this crisis and the resumption of operations. This includes daily leadership calls and intense focus on managing costs and cash flows as well as regular communications with customer and key suppliers confirming orders and resetting delivery schedules. I've also had the opportunity to meet with the top leaders across the business and to set 6 clear priorities for the immediate and near future. These priorities include: first, continuing to proactively manage our business through the COVID-19 crisis to ensure our company's long-term sustainability. I spoke earlier about the actions we've taken to keep our people and customers safe. We're also being proactive in ensuring we have sufficient liquidity to navigate the crisis. Our second priority is to make our rail business predictable by being consistent in our performance. Third, we need to align Bombardier's Aviation production with market demand. First, to manage through the crisis and then to be a more profitable and steadier cash flow generating business. Today, there is still uncertainty as to how long the pandemic will last or how quickly our end market will recover. However, it's clear the short-term will be challenging. And Bombardier, like everyone else in the aerospace industry, has been forced to adjust production rates and make difficult workforce reduction. These decisions are among the hardest a CEO has to make. They are never taken lightly. In this case, they were absolutely necessary given the impact COVID-19 has had on our market. Longer term, with our Global 7500 and the entry into service of the Global 6500 and Global 5500, Bombardier is well positioned. And when the crisis dissipates, we'll look to play offense, which includes driving business aviation aftermarket growth opportunities, our fourth priority. Our fifth priority is to complete our aerospace divestiture and the sale of Bombardier Transportation to address our balance sheet challenges. We are making good progress here. We closed the sale of the CRJ program on June 1. We are working diligently with Spirit on closing the sale of our Aerostructures business. The proceeds from this divestiture and our other actions will provide a bridge to the Alstom transaction, which remains very much on track to our original time line. And finally, our sixth priority, is to set the foundation for our long-term success by defining clear vision of -- for our company and resetting our culture. More specifically, I want Bombardier's culture to be defined as shown on this chart, an organization that is people and customer-centric, that values performance, operational excellence, and team spirit, a company that is always transparent and authentic at every level. With clear priorities and a healthy culture, we will navigate through the current crisis and make Bombardier a more profitable and predictable company with a healthier balance sheet. This is how we will redefine winning going forward. Again, our goal is not to simply emerge from COVID pandemic, but rather to rebuild a stronger, more predictable organization capable of delivering strong performance, strong financial performance and value to shareholders. At the same time, the manner in which we deliver our results will continue to be as important as the results we achieve. And I want to reaffirm our commitment for maintaining the highest ethical standards to providing a people-centric, diverse, inclusive and healthy workplace and to demonstrating environmental leadership in our product, supply chain and operation. While the current environment is very challenging, I am optimistic about our future and excited to be leading a company with such a strong portfolio and so many great people. I can assure you that the entire team is working hard to achieve the priorities I outlined and to make this company of yours more valuable. And I look forward to updating you on a regular basis as to our progress. [Interpreted] thank you all again for being with us today and for your interest in Bombardier. To conclude, I can assure you that we understand your disappointment. But I am convinced, above all, that we will rebuild this Québec flagship so that we will all be proud of our company once again. I wish you and your loved ones health and safety for the days and weeks to come. Thank you.

And I will be happy to answer questions and to hear the comments of our shareholders. You can send your question by clicking on the question icon on the webcast platform, as explained at the beginning. As a reminder, question should deal with Bombardier's activities and businesses, and should not be of a personal nature. I will now give the microphone to Mr. Marcil.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we have received a question from Mr. Willie Gagnon on behalf of MÉDAC, a Bombardier shareholder. I quote, "For more than 20 years now, we have and it's our right as a shareholder to intervene verbally during shareholders' meetings in support of shareholder motions that we submit each year and at different moments during the meeting. This verbal intervention was not made possible this year at Bombardier, despite the fact that other public companies have done so like BCE. We are quite aware of this very exceptional situation the whole world must face today due to the world pandemic of COVID-19. In these circumstances, we understand the reasons, notably, the decisions taken by the state why the meeting -- these meetings are happening virtually. We also understand the reasons for which the measures introduced to ensure this meeting or amongst many of them constraining. And the decision to [ convene based ] on these measures have to be taken very quickly. We share the opinion of security of the -- security administration in that kind of CSS and others on this topic. Virtual annual meetings should preserve the voice of shareholders as guaranteed by custom doctrine, jurisprudence and the law and its regulations, both in spirit and in the letter. Many shareholder meetings were held virtually this year but exceptionally, and they should not become a standard. It goes without saying that what should be -- it's what should be done at the -- we should not have virtual meetings for simple technical considerations or cost considerations. The current measures are justified and the -- by the exceptional character of this sanitary crisis. Normally, the situation would be quite different. And today's event should not be a precedent to justify future -- such meetings in the future. We will look at this very carefully in the interest of all shareholders and in the company's interest as well. A question, what would be different in the organization of our annual meetings? If the company had prepared it within the normal -- without any sanitary [ provisions ] and without any emergency? End of questions.

[Interpreted] Mr. Gagnon, thank you for your question. I thank you for having mentioned the totally extraordinary nature of this meeting due to COVID-19. As I stressed at the beginning of the meeting, our decision was taken following some important concerns expressed about the health and safety of our shareholders and employees, of our staff, which is responsible for the good unfolding of this meeting as well by the recommendations of the protection of the public and of social distancing imposed by Québec authorities. Like you, I would much prefer for [ meeting ] where we could exchange directly to our shareholders. And I want to reiterate that Bombardier's intention is that virtual meetings will be remain the exception and not the rule. Mr. Marcil, do we have any other questions?

[Interpreted] Mr. Chairman, I confirm that we no longer have any questions. I thank you.

[Interpreted] Thank you. The question period over. Our platform supplier -- our webcast supplier has a register of all the questions received today. Inasmuch -- if by a lack of -- if for lack of time, we're not able to receive some questions. If further questions come in, we will try to answer them as long as we have your contact information. On behalf of the company, I'd like to thank you for having participated in this meeting. And I thank you for your continuing commitment to Bombardier. I wish you all the best to you and your families, and I hope that you will remain safe and healthy. Until we meet again, and thank you.