48 | Flight International | 11-17 June 2019 flightglobal.com
PARIS
Special report
had planned to develop a minimal-change
shrink of the MRJ90 in the form of the 76-seat
MRJ70. But Bellamy reveals that the company
has dropped the MRJ70 name, instead referring
to its smaller-capacity solution as The Concept.
Details, however, have been hard to come by.
“What we have been working on is I think
fundamentally improved over what the
MRJ70 was,” he says. “We don’t want to let
the rabbit out of the hat.”
At a broad level, Bellamy says the rede-
signed Concept is intended to comply with
seating and maximum take-off weight limits
faced by US airlines – the so-called scope
clause in pilot contracts that prevents carriers
from substituting regional jet pilots for their
higher-paid mainline pilots. It will be designed
to be “scope compliant but not scope limited”
and remains “a derivative of the MRJ90”.
At a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of
39,600kg (87,300lb), the MRJ90 is just above
the 39,000kg scope limit for US regional carri-
ers. At one time Mitsubishi might have expect-
ed that limit to be raised enough for the aircraft
to qualify as a regional jet, but now sees no
likelihood of that changing any time soon.
The MRJ90’s breaching of the scope limit
complicates things for US-based regional car-
riers SkyWest and Trans States Holdings,
which hold around two-thirds of the 223 firm
orders for the type. SkyWest has discussed
limiting the MTOW of the jet, while Trans
States gave the cold shoulder to suggestions it
may switch its order to the MRJ70.
Bellamy suggests that since the MRJ70 was
first conceived, the market has changed, and
regional carriers now require a 76-seat aircraft
that can offer a dual-class layout, along with
extra-legroom seating in the economy cabin,
while also delivering favourable economics.
That is the benchmark that has been set by
the 76-seat Embraer E175, a top competitor for
Mitsubishi in the US regional segment, with
previous market leader, Bombardier, having
fallen away in recent years, failing to invest
in its CRJ programme and selling the larger
CSeries, now the A220, to Airbus.
Meeting that market need could be neces-
sary for Mitsubishi to become a credible play-
er in the regional aircraft sector, says Rob Mor-
ris, head of consultancy at Ascend by Cirium.
“Clearly Mitsubishi must create an MRJ var-
iant that can offer up to 76 seats with a
4,000km [2,160nm] range and maximum take-
off weight lower than 86,000lb, so that they can
access US markets limited by scope clause,” he
says. “The MRJ90 doesn’t fulfil this and, while
the current MRJ70 design does meet the maxi-
mum take-off weight limit, it cannot offer 76
seats with acceptable range or in two-class.”
To become scope compliant, Chris Sey-
mour, head of market analysis at Ascend, sug-
gests that Mitsubishi could perhaps make a
“slight shrink of the current MRJ90 with
maybe more use of weight-saving materials
and some internal changes”.
Bellamy says the regional market facing
Mitsubishi is “underdeveloped” and “proba-
bly a once-in-a-50-year-lifetime opportunity”
because of growing demand for regional air-
craft. “There is a great opportunity for revolu-
tionising both the passenger experience and
the way airlines think about their regional op-
erations. We’ve spent a long time talking with
airlines about the redesigned MRJ70,” he
says, optimistic that Mitsubishi can offer a
next-generation product that complies with
the scope clauses and economics of the US re-
gional market.
Striking this balance for the revamped air-
craft could also appeal to a global market be-
cause “outside of the US we have significant-
ly more capability in markets that are not
limited by scope clauses”, he says.MAKING PROGRESS
While The Concept remains under wraps,
Mitsubishi is focusing on certificating the
long-delayed MRJ90 in 2020, which Bellamy
says is “fundamental” for establishing its
credibility. That focus means that the manu-
facturer will not have one of the aircraft in the
flying display at Le Bourget, as it did in 2017,
and it is unsure if one can be spared for a
short fly-in and display on the static line.
Mitsubishi has four flight-test MRJ90s at its
evaluation centre in Moses Lake, Washington,
and a fifth in Japan that is used for ground
tests. The manufacturer plans to add two
more aircraft to the flight-test fleet this year.Testing for certification by the JCAB began
in December 2018. The FAA is monitoring
Mitsubishi to ensure safety tests and data col-
lection are done correctly.
“We continue to work closely with the
JCAB to also build a set of compliance re-
quirements and processes that exceed the
high global expectations for aircraft safety,”
says Andrew Telesca, Mitsubishi’s head of
certification management. “During all testing,
we are collecting lessons learned and improv-
ing integration between our organisations in
order to improve efficiency, and support not
only the certification schedule of the MRJ90,
but to also ensure the success of future aircraft
development in Japan.”
The European Union Aviation Safety Agen-
cy will participate in flights later, but its repre-
sentatives have taken part in other compli-
ance activities at locations including Eglin
AFB in Florida, where the aircraft was sub-
jected to extreme temperature trials.
While testing progresses, Mitsubishi is also
focused on getting the MRJ90 ready for ser-
vice in 2020 with launch customer All Nip-
pon Airways (ANA), which has 15 firm orders
for the aircraft and options to purchase 10
more, Cirium’s Fleets Analyzer shows.
The Tokyo Olympics in July 2020 are set to
be a major draw for air travel, but Bellamy
says that despite the pressure to deliver the
aircraft by then, “we are working with ANA to
make sure we are entering into service
smoothly”. The first MRJ simulator built by
CAE will be installed at Mitsubishi’s Haneda
flight training centre in the coming months.
The Pratt & Whitney PW1200G geared tur-
bofan engine is custom-built for Mitsubishi’s
regional jets and is the newest version of the
engine; Mitsubishi is optimistic about a
smooth rollout of the engine.
It may be several years late, but the progress
of the MRJ90 and Mitsubishi’s rethink of the
MRJ70 are set to make the Japanese airframer
a company to watch at the Paris air show. ■“There is a great opportunity
for revolutionising the
passenger experience”
Alex Bellamy
Chief development officer, Mitsubishi Aircraft
AirTeamImagesOne of the four flight-test aircraft at
Mitsubishi’s Moses Lake evaluation centre