Bombardier is effectively a ward of the Canadian state

Canadian business icon (and, arguably, pariah) Bombardier Inc. have their hands out for a bailout yet again, and once again the Canadian government is agonising over whether to pay up or not.
The Montreal-based plane and train manufacturer is in existential crisis again as its much-touted C Series planes are still having problems getting off the ground. It has just announced it is slashing 7,000 jobs in Canada and worldwide (nearly 10% of its total workforce), although mainly in its train sector, and it is asking the federal government to contribute $1 billion (to match the $1 billion the Quebec government has already recently donated) to help cover the fact that development of its C Series is $2 billion over budget and at least 2 years behind schedule.
Bombardier has not had an order for its C Series planes for nearly 18 months now, although national carrier Air Canada has just signed a letter of intent (not a firm order) to purchase 45 of them, with an option for 30 more. One does wonder whether there was not some government sweet-talking or arm-twisting involved here. However, it is believed that Air Canada is only offering $30 million per plane, about a 60% discount from the $72.4 million list price.
In a way, it might be better if Air Canada had not done this, because now Bombardier will probably continue to lurch along, pursuing business-as-usual, which in their case involves regular government handouts of taxpayers' money. This is apparently Bombardier's 51st request for bailout funds from the federal government over the last 50 years.
Interestingly, after yesterday's announcement, Air Canada's stocks went DOWN by 12%, even though they are reporting record profits for 2015. Bombardier's, on the other hand, went UP by about 11%, despite the Toronto Transit Commission voting this week to sue the company for only delivering 10 of the 67 streetcars it was supposed to have provided by now. Gotta love that old Stock Exchange thing...
The aerospace industry, like the auto industry, has always enjoyed a sacred cow status in Canada, and it has become used to relying on a government safety net that other industries just don't have. Bombardier in particular is described as the "jewel" of Quebec's industrial heritage, and is considered just too large to be allowed to fail. But it doesn't always have to be that way.
Bear in mind that Bombardier is a private company, controlled and largely owned by the extended Bombardier-Beaudoin family, and it is probably they that will benefit the most from any bailout. The company has annual sales of around $20 billion, and is still expected to make annual profits of between $200 million and $400 million, even if that is below analysts' earlier estimates. It also has a strong liquidity position of about $6.5 billion (including the $1 billion from the Quebec government, and another $1.5 billion from the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec).
Is this really a company that the Canadian taxpayer (i.e. me) should be bailing out? One analysis calls this "rewarding bad behaviour", and that most of Bombardier's wounds are in fact self-inflicted, and I am inclined to agree. The company, as Eric Reguly points out, is becoming the equivalent of a ward of the state, but under the control of a wealthy private family.
Perhaps the only possible justification I can see for a government bailout for Bombardier would be to stem the bleeding of jobs (even if the government actually tries to sell it as a commercial proposition in the best interests of the taxpayer). But the question then is: at what cost per job? And even the jobs argument is on shaky ground, because such a subsidy would not really "save" jobs, merely recycle them from one jurisdiction to another, just as subsidizing one company takes government money away from other, perhaps more deserving enterprises.
In reality, this is corporate welfare, a politically-targeted subsidy to a private business, and I think the government has better causes on which to spend its money. If you want a more cogent argument than mine, here is a list of ten reasons to reject Bombardier's latest cash call. But, who knows, maybe the new Liberal government will start a new tradition, and not give in to the lobbying pressure.