Close up: Paul J. Thompson, General Manager, Bombardier London Biggin Hill Service Centre

Recently expanded in November 2022, Bombardier’s London Biggin Hill Service Centre is now the largest private jet service facility in the U.K. The top-notch team behind this incredible new service facility is led by general manager Paul J. Thompson. Here, we connect with him to find out what he loves about the job and living in London.  

Q. What is your most memorable customer experience? 

A: There are too many to count – seriously! I see the teams from across our business deliver memorable experiences every day. If I look at London, the most pleasing experience is when one of our team members gets a shout-out from a customer recognizing something they have done. In London, we returned more than 1,800 aircraft to service in 2022. Whether it’s the engineers staying late to bring an aircraft back online, the CPM team explaining issues to a customer and helping them identify an action plan, the customer experience team taking care of the customer’s every need– whether that be a taxi, a hotel or just a cup of coffee – all these moments count towards the overall experience. In London, we work hard to deliver an end-to-end experience that ensures our customers feel welcome and appreciated when they bring their aircraft home to Bombardier.  

Q. What makes you proud to work at Bombardier? 

A: The people across the organization. It doesn't matter whether you are in engineering, manufacturing, customer experience or all the other support functions, people constantly go above and beyond, both for the customers and the business. I am always amazed that no matter the challenge, the worldwide team at Bombardier finds a way to make it happen to delight our customers! We continue to assist each other, whether it is customer support helping the service centre support the customer, manufacturing supporting with deliveries or parts for in-service, engineering providing innovative solutions to problems that we find, finance providing actionable insights to allow the business to operate more concisely, or HR ensuring that we have the best possible place to work. We all come together as a team to make things happen daily.  

Q. What is your favourite thing to do in London?  

A: I love just walking around the city. It has so much history. It doesn't matter where you go, you can always find something interesting. Sometimes, while I’m riding in a cab, I look up and there is Buckingham Palace or Tower Bridge, and I have to pinch myself because I forget that I’m living in one of the world’s greatest cities.  

Q. What is your favourite Bombardier aircraft or facility and why? 

A: The service centre in London is obviously my favourite, as it is absolutely world-class and one of the best MRO facilities in the world. Aircraft-wise, I love the Global 7500 aircraft. I was part of the program back in 2011, and it is amazing to see this game-changing aircraft in service!