Bombardier's Delta deal, a big ruling on housing data & the Airbnb of restaurants: BUSINESS WEEK WRAP

Bombardier has been slumping for months as CSeries delays keep mounting, coupled with a pesky lack of new orders for the next-generation jets the company is so eager to trumpet.

Air Canada committed to buy some in February, but Delta's pledge on Thursday to buy at least 75 of the jets is the "game changer" — as CEO Alain Bellemare put it — that the company has been waiting for.

The list value for the jets could be as much as $5.6 billion, but most experts we spoke to this week said the true price tag is likely much less than that, as Delta would be getting a discount for both the size of its order and its own credibility.

One analyst we spoke to pegged it at somewhere around $2 billion, while others had different figures. Regardless, "to obtain an order from Delta means the airplane must have some credibility it must be meeting its performance targets," Airinsight analyst Ernest Arvai told us, "and the performance of the CSeries has been phenomenal so far."

It all adds up to good news for Bombardier, but it doesn't necessarily mean the company won't still need a bailout, however.

And don't get us started on those TTC streetcars.

TREB loses case with Competition Bureau

There was big news in real estate this week, as Canada's biggest real estate board lost a landmark tribunal ruling that could see realtors have to give up their iron grip on detailed housing data.

Canada's Competition Bureau has claimed the Toronto Real Estate Board is anti-competitive for the way it limits access to crucial data on recent home sales — information consumers want to get their hands on.

But the realtor group defends its practice of protecting that data, saying it does it for the privacy of buyers and sellers.

Canada's Competition Tribunal disagreed with that claim this week, and ruled against TREB in the case. We don't know the full details of the ruling yet, as lawyers for the two sides are still hammering out a deal, but the case has the potential to be a big win for consumers.

And at least one realtor told us this week there's nothing to fear from more openness. ViewPoint Realty in Halifax turned itself into the largest brokerage in Nova Scotia in part by giving away all that information for free to consumers, and arming them with information to make smart decisions.

If the TREB ruling tears down similar barriers across the country, "realtors and brokerages could also benefit by finally having their hands untied from behind their backs," ViewPoint CEO Bill McMullin told us.

The Airbnb of restaurants

The sharing economy is changing the way people everywhere live, and we were introduced to a new part of it this week.

Some Canadians are serving up a new take on it by sharing their food, with strangers. 

Multiple websites have popped up for people to advertise takeout food services or restaurants run out of their homes. Participants see it as an opportunity to meet people, test their culinary skills, and get feedback.

But profit isn't necessarily on the table.

"It pretty much breaks down to seven to $10 a head, which is about a bottle of wine," Torontonian Nadya Khoja told the CBC's Sophia Harris this week, "so we don't make a profit but we definitely just make our money back in wine.

The full story about startups like MealSurfer and others is well worth your time, so give it a read.

Other stuff

Those were some of our best stories of the past seven days. Be sure and check out our landing page for more, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter here to always stay up to date. In the mean time, here's a day by day list of our most-read stories this week.

Monday

• Netflix crackdown won't stop Canadians from pirating content
• The world may be seeking solutions to economic problems in the wrong places

Tuesday

• DON PITTIS: Climate change resistance is futile — so build all the pipelines
• High house prices got you down? Then try the latest trend and buy with a friend

Wednesday

• Pop up restaurants in private homes are the latest trend in the sharing economy
• Not just Toronto and Vancouver: many Canadian housing markets look overvalued

Thursday

• Bombardier secures firm CSeries order from Delta for 75 jets
• Secrecy of home sales data reduces competition, tribunal rules

Friday

• ANALYSIS: Why Bomber's Delta deal doesn't mean they don't need a bailout
• Loonie tops 80 cents for first time since last summer