Regional Jet Battle Heats Up

(Image from Bombardier)










Bombardier Aerospace, based in Canada, launched a larger regional jet, based on the Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) family, the CRJ-1000. The plane will hold up to 100 seats. Its current largest civilian aircraft, CRJ-900 holds up to 90 people. CRJ-900's latest order was placed by Delta Air Lines. CRJ-1000 was launched by Brit Air, an Air France subsidiary, ordering eight and eight options, and My Way Airlines, headquartered in Italy, which converted 15 of their 19 CRJ-900 orders to CRJ-1000. An undisclosed customer ordered 15, bringing the total order to 38. (Bombardier)

CRJ series directly competes with E-Jets, made by Embraer, a Brazilian company. Unlike Bombardier's large regional jets, Embraer made an entirely new regional jet and reinventing it at the same time. Embraer's series, EMB-170, 175, 190 and 195 seat anywhere from 70 to 118 people, depending on the model. The E-Jets family was launched in 1999 and put into production in 2002.

Bombardier's Canadair is studying its own large regional jet, CSeries, a project which was initially cancelled in 2006, but then relaunched. CSeries will come in two variants, C110, seating up to 110 people and C130, seating 130 people. CSeries may replace aging aircraft, such as DC-9, older Boeing 737 aircraft as well as eclipse Airbus A318 and A319. First entry is planned in 2013.

(Image from Sukhoi)

While Bombardier and Embraer may be the only regional aircraft makers, they may not be the only ones for long. Russia's Sukhoi, which has a legacy of making military and trainer aircraft, is developing its Sukhoi Superjet (SSJ), which was previously known as the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ). The airplane, which will seat up to 78 to 98 people, depending on the model, is part of a collaboration between Sukhoi, Boeing and other aviation companies. The company already has received orders from Aeroflot, among other Russian airlines. The company is now part of United Aircraft Building Corporation, a public company owned by the Russian government (Source)

Flight Global's article looks at the Superjet closer.

Boeing is looking at developing its replacement for its Boeing 737, according to ATW Online. The company may consider two solutions for the replacement, as it looks at its designs. The company may shift its capacity from 90-200 people to 130-230-seat family airplane. The company says that environmental concerns are a top priority and is one of the reasons why it is looking to replace its most popular airliner.