Forgive the Mitsubishi MRJ regional jet folk if they were looking a little smug at the European Regions Airline association general assembly in Interlaken last week. Twenty months ago 15 firm orders from All Nippon Airways launched the Japanese programme, but since then a seemingly vain wait for other orders left Mitsubishi claims that MRJ is the next generation regional jet looking like empty rhetoric.
All of that changed a fortnight ago, after Trans States Holdings became the first export customer, with 50 firm orders. Now, it looks as though this aircraft could well set the standard for its category when it flies in 2012.
How did this happen? Since the MRJ's launch in March 2008, Mitsubishi has held countless talks with dozens of potential customers. While many sniggered at "another national aircraft project", its sales and engineering people were trying to figure out what would make this a viable long-term programme. Mitsubishi officials had their ideas, but listened to those who matter - the airlines that will buy and operate the aircraft. The changes Mitsubishi announced in September, including a taller cabin and using aluminium for the wings instead of carbonfibre composites, are practical ones that keep the production lead-times and potential customers in mind. This is Japanese sensibility at its best.
Unless the real national projects - Sukhoi Superjet and Comac ARJ21 - secure serious international orders, they will look more and more like anachronisms in a crowded market. Mitsubishi Aircraft appears more like an Airbus or Boeing - a well-run and serious airframer with an international outlook - than its Russian or Chinese counterparts.
Incumbents Bombardier and Embraer must respond by improving their existing products or coming up with new ones. Even the turboprop market cornered by ATR and the Bombardier Q400 family could come into play, with Mitsubishi officials saying that the MRJ may be competitive there, too.
These are still early days. We still do not know for sure if the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine will deliver all that it promises. The Trans States order breaks Mitsubishi into the lucrative North American market, but there are many more aircraft to sell before the programme is profitable, and Bombardier and Embraer will surely strengthen their marketing efforts.
No doubt we will continue to be told that MRJ is the regional jet of the future. Just don't be surprised to hear that from people who don't work for Mitsubishi.
Source: Flight International
