The man hired to reverse Bombardier's flagging fortunes just two years ago is leaving his dual roles as president and chief executive officer of the transportation giant.

In an unexpected announcement Monday morning, Bombardier Inc. said Paul Tellier, 65, is leaving its board of directors with one year left in his contract.

Word of Tellier's departure sent the company's already-battered stock plunging to a new record low, down 65 cents to $1.87 in heavy intraday trading. The stock price recovered somewhat before the day was through, however, closing at $2.11 for a 44-cent drop on the day.

In a statement, Bombardier said Tellier, who joined the company after a successful stint transforming Canadian National Railway Co., is leaving "on good terms."

But two other directors also announced Monday they are leaving the board -- suggesting that Tellier's sudden departure may have been contentious.

Bombardier says the change was initiated because Tellier stated he wanted to leave the company when his contract expires next year, while they were looking for a longer term commitment.

"I leave with the satisfaction of having done what needed to be done as a first step before the corporation could focus on developing new avenues of value creation,'' Tellier said in a statement.

"I understand the board's concern that I would not be there for the long term to develop and execute strategies, and the need to reshape the management structure at this time.''

The Montreal-based transportation equipment maker also shuffled management responsibilities. Executive chairman Laurent Beaudoin, 66, will take the CEO title and head a new governing unit, called the Office of the President.

His son Pierre Beaudoin will be president of Bombardier Aerospace, and Andre Navarri will be president of the Bombardier Transportation rail-equipment division.

In Tellier's two years with the company, Bombardier has dramatically reduced its work force amid deepening problems in both its railway and airliner divisions.

The most recent job cuts came earlier this month when Bombardier said it would cut another 2,200 employees at its rail unit.

There is speculation Tellier's departure was hastened by his reported disagreement with the company's plans to go ahead with plans for new C-series aircraft.

After a year of studying proposals for two new, larger regional aircraft models, Bombardier was expected to decide on the $2-billion US program early in the new year.

Responding to Tellier's departure on Monday, Dominion Bond Rating Service said the program is vital to Bombardier's future and warned the executive shake-up could "disrupt the execution of these initiatives at these critical junctures and further delay the company's recovery."

And in Ottawa, Industry Minister David Emerson said that a cancellation of the C-Series would be a blow to Canada's aerospace industry.

"But, ultimately, if Bombardier were to decide that's not advisable from their own corporate point of view, then that's the end of it," Emerson told reporters outside the Commons.

He would not comment, however, on reports Ottawa is prepared to spend $800 million to bail out the Montreal-based company.

"If there were to be a negotiation that were finalized with Bombardier, it would be a negotiation whereby the government of Canada would provide funding as Bombardier provided funding," Emerson said, choosing to discuss the form of such talks, rather than their substance.

"It would be provided over a period of time and it would have to be on the basis of a demonstrated ability to perform. And there would be a provision whereby the funding would be recovered to the Canadian taxpayer."

Bombardier's global work force totalled about 75,000 when Tellier took office. The latest cutbacks will bring the work force down to about 53,000 when the cuts are completed in 2006.

Bombardier is the world's third-largest aircraft manufacturer and biggest rail equipment maker.

With files from The Canadian Press