Recently in Mitsubishi Category

In this decade's great narrowbody race, Mitsubishi became the first runner to publicly stumble -- again.

The Japanese airframer warned us in February that first flight of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) would be delayed from the second quarter this year.

This morning, the MRJ programme announced first flight is indeed postponed 15-18 months to the fourth quarter of 2014, which is the third quarter of the Japanese fiscal year. First delivery to launch customer All Nippon Airlines is delayed at least 18-24 months to between October 2015 to March 2016.

The delays slightly reshuffle the official order of appearance of the six major narrowbodies now in development. The Bombardier CSeries still comes first in 2013, although there are growing doubts about this timeframe. The re-engined Airbus A320neo is scheduled to enter service in 2015. Then comes either the MRJ or the Russian MS-21 starting from late 2015 to 2016, respectively. Embraer has said the next generation E-Jet should appear between 2016-2018. Boeing, finally, has pegged entry into service of the re-engined 737 Max in 2017.

Although the MRJ programme is only four years old, this is actually the second major delay announcement. The first postponement came at the Asian Aerospace airshow in Singapore in February 2010. Mitsubishi pushed back first flight by a year as it dumped the carbon fibre wings for simpler aluminium alloy and unveiled a stretched 90-seater.

We don't know exactly why another programme delay was necessary. Mitsubishi reassures the Pratt & Whitney PW1127G geared turbofan development is going smoohtly, with first flight of the engine on a testbed aircraft scheduled later this month. MRJ only says cryptically that the latest delay will allow the designers to "confirm respective fabrication processes" and "provide sufficient time for technical studies".  

When I sat down to think about the remaining thirteen and a half weeks of 2010, it became immediately apparent how pivotal this time will be for the future of commercial and business aviation. Decisions from Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, Bombardier and Gulfstream will shape the industry in 2011 and 2012 in the near term, but these same decisions could guide commercial and business aerospace for the next decade to come.

In a move that could reshape the US regional jet landscape, feeder carrier Trans States Airlines signed an LOI for up to 100 MRJ aircraft.

The order includes 50 firm aircraft and 50 options and is one of the biggest in a year that has seen few large orders, especially from US carriers.

Trans States currently operates a fleet of ERJ-145 and CRJ700 (subsidiary GoJet) aircraft for US Airways Express and United Express.

The introduction of the MRJ to US regional feeder routes adds a fifth major player in the North American commercial jet transport market along side Boeing, Airbus, Embraer and Bombardier. In particular, the MRJ takes direct aim at the market currently occupied by Bombardier's CRJ700 and CRJ900 aircraft, as well as Embraer's E-Jet family.

The significance of this order is not to be underestimated. A Japanese aircraft breaking into the US regional market could be on par with the 1986 order by Northwest Airlines and the 1996 order by United Airlines for A320 family aircraft, opening the door to a flood of new operators.

The order also represents the US commercial launch of the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G turbofan, as well as the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics platform.

Delivery dates have not yet been set, however the MRJ plans to enter service in 2014 with launch customer ANA. Trans States did not specify a breakdown of selected variants, but have said they are interested in the 92-seat MRJ90, the 78-seat MRJ70, and the proposed stretched variant of the aircraft with 100 seats.

The order comes three weeks after Mitubishi unveiled major changes to the MRJ design including shifting the wing from composite to aluminum.

"Conceptually, this is a very big change," admits Mitsubishi Aircraft. "Structural changes are easier and require shorter lead-time with aluminium wings. With an aluminium wing box, the wing structure can be more easily optimised for the MRJ70/90 and the stretch model, which enhances the overall competitiveness of the MRJ family."

The change will allow its engineers to develop an optimum wing for the MRJ90 and minimise the deterioration of range performance for the stretched version. The biggest benefit will be for the MRJ70, which will weigh less.

"This will allow weight reduction through structural changes, allowing for larger winglets and resulting in a reduction of block fuel [consumption] and take-off performance improvement," says Mitsubishi.

As a result, Mitsubishi has thickened the now-aluminum wing of the MRJ resulting in a 27 knot decrease in cruise speed while seeking to maintain the aircrafts planned fuel burn advantage over today's regional jets.