Amid Own Turbulence, BlackBerry Splurged on a Jet

BlackBerry's been having a rough patch lately. It made headlines Friday with a second-quarter loss of almost $1 billion and plans to cut 40% of its worldwide workforce; then, USA Today notes, the company postponed its launch of BlackBerry Messenger for Android and iOS because the Android version was apparently leaked, per the company blog. Yet the company's troubles don't seem to have prevented it from purchasing a corporate jet in July, the Wall Street Journal reports. The price isn't known, but comparable planes cost $25 million to $29 million.

The company once had three corporate jets; its well-documented woes forced the sale of one less than a year ago. The newly purchased 2006 Bombardier Global Express was bought to replace a pair of Dassault Falcon jets, the company says. "Earlier this year the company decided to sell both (Dassault) planes and replace them with one longer-range aircraft," a rep tells the Journal. Sightings suggest the Dassault planes are still in action, but now the company "has decided to sell (the Bombardier) aircraft along with the two legacy aircraft and will no longer own any planes," it says. (More BlackBerry stories.)