Airbus leaders who surprised Boeing this week with a deal giving them control of the CSeries jet are now backpedaling on an earlier statement suggesting they plan to buy out Bombardier’s stake completely.

When Airbus announced its surprise deal to acquire control of Bombardier’s CSeries jet program Monday, a senior Airbus executive said “the end game” for the European jet maker was eventually to convert the bare majority stake it was getting into full, 100 percent ownership of that program.

But in Canada on Friday, Airbus leaders backtracked on that statement, saying they want a long-term partnership with Bombardier and the government of Quebec.

The soft-pedaling of Airbus’ intentions came after concerns were raised in Canada that Bombardier — which has invested more than $6 billion to develop the jet over the past decade — could be completely shut out of the airplane’s future success.

When the agreement closes, Airbus will own 50.01 percent of the CSeries program, with Bombardier left owning 31 percent and the Quebec government 19 percent.

The pact gives Airbus the right to buy out the other two shareholders in stages and to complete a buyout seven-and-a-half years after the transaction closes, which would mean assuming full ownership around 2026.

But Airbus CEO Tom Enders, speaking Friday in Montreal where Bombardier is headquartered, denied that a complete takeover is planned.

“We have no intention to buy out the others because we know that they are great partners,” Enders said at an event sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. “If they want to stay on the journey going forward, they are very welcome to that. Bombardier brings a lot. It’s one of the premier aeronautics companies in the world, and to be close to them has a great value for Airbus.”

This contradicts what Airbus head of communications Rainer Ohlertold The Seattle Times and CNN shortly after the deal was announced Monday.

“It’s not forever a threesome. Over time, we take 100 percent of the program. That’s the end game,” Ohler said then. “At the end of the day, this will be an Airbus program.”

Reached on Friday for clarification, Ohler said that he had not meant to be so definitive.

Airbus will take over as majority owner once the deal closes, controlling sales, parts procurement and all aspects of the CSeries business, he said.

As for exercising its right to buy full ownership, “it’s open whether that’s going to happen, that remains to be seen,” Ohler said Friday. “Who knows what will happen in seven-and-a-half years? Maybe you want Bombardier on board for more local support.”

Airbus Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Brégier said in Montreal on Friday that it will cost only “a few hundred million dollars” to set up the planned new assembly line in Mobile, Alabama, where CSeries jets for the U.S. market are to be built.

Airbus believes this arrangement will be enough to get around the 300 percent tariffs the U.S. Department of Commerce has proposed to apply to CSeries imports.

“The minute the plane is assembled in Mobile, it will become American,” Brégier told Bloomberg News in an interview. “We would have a made-in-USA jet.”

Boeing this week insisted that the tariffs will still apply to imported CSeries parts such as the wings and fuselage sections.

Brégier said Airbus expects to capture at least 2,000 orders for the CSeries in the next two decades.