Wikipedia

Regional jet

(Redirected fromRegional Jet)
For the airline operator, seeRegional Jet (airline).

Aregional jet(RJ) is ajet-poweredregional airlinerwith fewer than 100 seats. The first one was theSud-Aviation Caravellein 1959, followed by the widespreadYakovlev Yak-40,Fokker F-28,andBAe 146.The 1990s saw the emergence of theCanadair Regional Jetand itsEmbraer Regional Jetcounterpart, then the largerEmbraer E-Jetand multiple competing projects. In the US, they are limited in size byscope clauses.

As of July 2024Embraerhas delivered 3034 regional jets, between theERJ familyand the still in productionE-Jet/E-Jet E2[1][2]
TheSud Aviation Caravelleshort-hauljet airlinerwas the first regional jet introduced in 1959
TheYakovlev Yak-40was introduced in 1968
TheFokker F-28was introduced in 1969 and was followed by the stretchedFokker 100in 1988 and itsFokker 70shrink in 1994.

The market was consolidated asBombardier Aviationsold its airliner programs between 2017 and 2019, leavingEmbraeras the sole large independent regional jet manufacturer, while emerging players try to push competitors: theMitsubishi SpaceJet,Sukhoi Superjet 100,Comac ARJ21,andAntonov An-148.

Definition

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Regional Jetis a term in industryjargonand not a regulatory category. Embry–Riddle Aeronautical Universitydefines the regional jet as up to 100 seats in capacity.[3] This is also the limit capacity for twoflight attendants.[4] FlightGlobalsort the 66- to 146-seatEmbraer E-Jet/E2as a regional aircraft,[5]but the 116- to 141-seatAirbus A220(ex Bombardier CSeries) as amainlineairliner.[6] Boeingdefines regional jets as below 90 seats.[7]

Regional Jetis used in the name of multiple airliners:

  • the 50-seatCanadair Regional Jet CRJ-100/200 was introduced in 1992 and evolved from 2001 in the 70- to 100-seatCRJ700/900/1000;
  • the 70- to 112-seatBAe 146was renamed as theAvro Regional Jetin 1993;
  • the 34- to 50-seatEmbraer Regional JetERJ-135/140/145 entered service in 1996;
  • the later 66- to 124-seatEmbraer E-Jet,introduced in 2004, still carries the ERJ type certificate name;
  • the 98-seatSukhoi Superjet 100,introduced in 2011, was initially known as the Russian Regional Jet, and is still called RRJ-95 in its type certificate;
  • the 78- to 98-seatComac ARJ21,introduced in 2016, stands for Advanced Regional Jet;
  • the 78- to 92-seatMitsubishi SpaceJet,marketed as theMitsubishi Regional Jetbefore 2019[8]

Thescope clauses,limiting the aircraft size and number in USregional airlines,are often a design point for regional jets. Since 2012,American Airlines,Delta Air LinesandUnited Airlinescap their regional airlines' jets at 76 seats andmaximum take-off weightat 86,000 lb (39 t).[9]

For anEASAassessment ofaircraft noise,regional jets were defined byICAO/CAEPexperts as 30–50 t (66,000–110,000 lb)MTOWaircraft.[10]

These aircraft are widely used by commuter airlines such asSkyWestandAmerican Eagle.The low rate of fuel consumption, which translates to low cost of operation, makes regional jets ideal for use as commuter aircraft or to connect lower traffic airports to large or medium hub airports. Regional jets are heavily used in the USEssential Air Serviceprogram.[citation needed]

History

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1960s–1970s

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TheSud Aviation Caravelle(80 to 140 seats), introduced in 1959 and ordered by many Europeanflag carriers,was the first purpose-built short-haul jetliner. It was a twinturbojetdesign for inter-European routes. The Caravelle used the forwardfuselagenose section of thede Havilland Comet,the first commercialjetliner,not effective for continental-European flights. TheBAC One-Eleven(89 to 119 seats) was then introduced in 1965.

In 1968,Aeroflotintroduced the 32-seatYakovlev Yak-40and the 65- to 85-seatFokker F28 Fellowshipwas introduced in 1969. In 1975, the 40- to 44-seatVFW-Fokker 614saw service entry with its distinctive overwing engines, 19 were built. Some business jets like theBritish Aerospace 125(first delivery: 1964) andDassault Falcon 20(1965) were operated by small airlines from the 1960s, and the smallAerospatiale Corvette(1974) was used as a regional airliner from the 1970s.

1980s

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TheBae 146started service in May 1983

In 1978, the USAirline Deregulation Actled to routeliberalization,favouring small airliners demand. US passengers were disappointed by these, lackingaircraft lavatoriesorflight attendantsof larger jet aircraft. As feeder routes grew,regional airlinesreplaced these small aircraft with larger turboprop airliners to feed largerairline hubs.These medium airliners were then supplanted by faster, longer range, regional jets like the firstBombardier CRJ100/200.Early small jets had higher operating costs than turboprops on short routes. The gap narrowed with better turbofans, and closed with the higherutilizationdue to higher speeds.

In 1983British Aerospaceintroduced itsBAe 146short-range jet, produced in three sizes between 70 and 112 seats: the -100, -200, and the largest -300, later renamed the Avro Regional Jet. Lowaircraft noiseand short takeoffs were suited to city-center to city-center service, a small market niche, like thede Havilland Canada Dash 7,but four engines led to higher maintenance costs than twin-engine designs and BAe did not produce a lower operating cost twin-engine design, unlike theDash 8.

In 1988, the 97- to 122-seatFokker 100,a stretched F28, was introduced, followed by the shorter, 72– to 85-seatFokker 70in 1994.

1990s

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TheCanadair Regional Jetfamily was introduced in 1992 with theBombardier CRJ-100.In total 1945 aircraft were built until the end of production in 2020
TheEmbraer ERJ familybegan in April 1997

Low fuel prices drove the development of the regional jet: in the 1990soil priceswere around $10–20 per barrel.Turbopropmanufacturers wanted to develop their portfolio.Canadair's purchase byBombardierin 1986 enabled a 50-seat stretched development of itsChallenger business jet,green-lighted by then chief executiveLaurent Beaudoinin March 1989. The first Bombardier four-abreastCanadair Regional Jetwas delivered in October 1992 toLufthansa CityLine.[11]

Embraerthen developed the 50-seat three-abreastERJ 145from theEMB-120 Brasiliaturboprop, which was introduced in December 1996. They replaced the turboprops thanks to their better perceived image and larger range. On small-capacity long routes, they could offer a better service by increasing frequencies at a smaller capacity and could replace mainlinejet airlinerslikeMcDonnell Douglas DC-9sandBoeing 737s.[11] They can be used for direct airport-to-airport flights, to the detriment of thehub-and-spoke model.

Since 1999, theFairchild Dornier 328JETwas also competing but the type did not enter large scale production asFairchild Dornierwent bankrupt, also ending the largerFairchild Dornier 728 familydevelopment. The CRJ/ERJ also resulted in the end of the BAe 146 line.[citation needed]

The CRJ and ERJ success also played a minor part in the failure ofFokker,whoseFokker 100found itself squeezed on both sides by new models of theBoeing 737andAirbus A319on the "large" side and the RJs on the "small side".[citation needed]On 5 February 1996, Bombardier started looking at atakeoverof a strugglingFokker,producer of theFokker 100100-seater. After evaluating Fokker's opportunities and challenges, Bombardier dropped the prospect on 27 February.[12]Bombardier was feeling that the 100-seat market was already saturated by designs like the A319, a decision that looked foolish with the successful introduction of the E-Jets.[citation needed]

2000s

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TheEmbraer E-Jet familywas introduced in 2004 and was followed by theE-Jet E2

The share of US domestic passengers flying in 32- to 100-seat regional jets grew to one-third from 2000 to 2005, asnetwork carrierssubcontracted low-volume routes to cheapercommuter airlineswith smaller planes. Amid regional jet usage saturation, bankruptcy of regional airlines and shrinking ofDelta Air LinesandNorthwest Airlines,cramped 50-seaters were evolving into more spacious 70- to 100-seaters, limited by union rules.[13]

In late 2005, Bombardier suspended its CRJ-200 production line.[14]

Between 2000 through 2006, 385 large planes were grounded while 1,029 regional jets were added.[15] By June 2007, nearly a third of US domestic flights on major airlines were late, as using more smaller jets led to more crowded skies and runways in an already saturated system.[16]

USmajor carriershigh pilots' wages led them to subcontract flights toregional airlineswith lower labor costs. Pilot unions then demanded to regulate subcontracted aircraft size to a 50 seats maximumscope clause.In turn, large routes were served by sub-optimal 50-seat jets which accelerated demand for those types inNorth America.Embraer envisioned a market for more than 500 aircraft and planned to produce up to 80 a year, but at peak delivered 157 ERJs in 2000 while Bombardier delivered 155 CRJs in 2003.[11]

After9/11,high fuel prices returned and jets had to grow to keep seat-mile costs down. Airlines renegotiated scope clause to limit jets to 70 seats as the marketconsolidated.Larger aircraft came back on regional routes for theirefficiency,and on shorter routes turboprops were not much slower for a lower cost, reversing the 1990s trend. Bombardier delivered its last 50-seat CRJ in 2006 and Embraer delivered its last ERJ in 2011.[11]

Bombardier switched to its lengthened 70- to 100-seatCRJ700/900/1000, while Embraer launched the four-abreastE-Jetseries 170/175/190/195. 50-seat jet demand is lower with high fuel prices, and this reflects on their lowermarket value.A majority of them will bescrapped.[11]

Bombardier and Embraer have started a series of lawsuits over export taxes and subsidies.

Although not as economical as the turboprop, by flying directly to and from smaller airports, regional jets reduced the need for low-cost regional airliners.

The 68- to 99-seatAntonov An-148,designed and produced byAntonovin Ukraine, made its maiden flight on 17 December 2004 after a development started in the 1990s. It was certified on 26 February 2007 and introduced in 2009. The stretched An-158 can seat 99 passengers.

2010s

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TheSukhoi Superjet 100was introduced in 2011

United Aircraft CorporationsubsidiarySukhoideveloped theSuperjet 100,it made its maiden flight on 19 May 2008 and was introduced in April 2011 withArmavia.[citation needed]It typically seats 98 passengers and is powered by 2PowerJet SaM146turbofans from aSafran/NPO Saturnjoint venture.[17]

ManyCRJ100/200 were retired since 2003 and in 2013 the firstEmbraer ERJwere disassembled: 50-seaters' value was dwindling as US carriers were dropping them.[18] The ERJ retirements could be exacerbated becauseRolls-Royce plcrestricts parts choice, making engine maintenance more expensive, but its TotalCare agreements provide cost predictability.[19]

TheComac ARJ21is a 78- to 90-seat jet manufactured by the Chinese state-owned aerospace companyComac. Development began in March 2002, the first prototype was rolled out on 21 December 2007, and made its maiden flight on 28 November 2008. It received itsCAACType Certification on 30 December 2014 and was introduced on 28 June 2016 byChengdu Airlines. Resembling theMcDonnell Douglas MD-80/MD-90produced under licence in China, it features a 25°swept,supercriticalwing designed byAntonovand twin rear-mountedGeneral Electric CF34engines.

Bombardier Aerospacedeveloped the 108- to 160-seat CSeries powered by twoPratt & Whitney PW1000Ggeared turbofans.[20]The smaller CS100 entered service in July 2016 withSwiss Global Air Linesand the larger CS300 entered service withairBalticin December.[21]After the April 2016CSeries dumping petition by Boeing,Airbusacquired a 50.01% majority stake in the program in October 2017 and renamed it theA220-100/300 in July 2018.[22]

TheEmbraer E190-E2was introduced in 2018

In 2017,Embraerstarted calling large, almostnarrowbodyregional jets "crossover" jets, for theEmbraer E-Jet E2and theCSeries.[23] While those rival theA320neo,the smallerMRJandSSJ100could be stretched.[24] They are often the largest airliners which can access city airports likeLondon City Airport,benefiting from their longerrangeand lowerfuel burnto open new markets while making lowernoisefor better local community acceptance.[25]

In 2019, after attempting to renegotiate scope clauses, United Airlines ultimately decided to order fifty CRJs for its regional affiliates; the aircraft will be sourced from existing CRJ700 airframes and reconfigured with 50 seats in 3 classes. Bombardier will recertify the aircraft as the CRJ550 model, with a lowerMTOWto comply with the scope clauses, and hopes to sell this new configuration to replace up to 700 existing 50-seaters with US regional airlines.[26][27]

By August 2019, there were 1,100 50-seat jets operated worldwide including 700 in the US, many more than 20 years old. SkyWestwants to replace 150 of its 200 ageing Bombardier CRJ200s and ERJs and while many have logged 30,000 cycles, their life may be extended to 60,000 cycles for 10-15 more years of service. SkyWest asked Bombardier, Embraer and Mitsubishi Aircraft to develop a new aircraft but the market is regulated byscope clauses.[28]

TheMitsubishi SpaceJet(ex MRJ), seating 70–90 passengers and manufactured byMitsubishi Aircraft Corporation,made its first flight on 11 November 2015.[29]After several delays, the program was canceled in February 2023.[30][31] AfterBombardier Aviationdivested itsCSeriesandDash 8programmes, it sold theCRJprogramme toMitsubishi Heavy Industries,in a deal that closed on 1 June 2020.[32]

Operations

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Costs

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A smaller airplane is more costly per seat mile than a larger plane, but it mostly depends on the airline: in 2005,Bombardierwas estimating regional jet costs at 9 to 10 US cents per seat mile while flying a Boeing 737 costs less than 8 cents per seat mile atSouthwest Airlinesbut 15 cents atContinental Airlines.[33]

Routes

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While designed primarily for medium stage lengths, regional jets may now be found supplementing major trunk routes alongside traditional larger jet aircraft. RJs allow airlines to open new "long, thin" routings with jet equipment which heretofore did not exist, such as Atlanta toMonterrey, Nuevo León.RJs have also meant a return of jet service to cities where full-size jet service had departed over a decade ago, such asMacon, Georgia,andBrownsville, Texas.[citation needed]

The idea that regional jets would provide point-to-point service and bypass the hub-and-spoke system is debated. As of January 2003, 90% of all regional jet flights in the United States had a hub or major airport at one end of that flight, and this number has been gradually increasing since 1995.[citation needed]However an International Center for Air Transportation Report in 2004 noted that regional jets were no longer used solely for hub feeder operations. As such they filled a gap in the market by flying on longer routes than turboprops, but shorter than the narrow body jets.[34]

Models

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Model Seats Seats
/Row 		Intro. Prod.
end 		Built State
Sud Aviation Caravelle 80–140 5 1959 1972 282 France
Yakovlev Yak-40 32 4 1968 1981 1011 USSR
Fokker F28 Fellowship 55–70 5 1969 1987 241 Netherlands
VFW-Fokker 614 40–44 4 1975 1977 19 Germany
Yakovlev Yak-42 120 6 1977 2003 187 USSR, Russia
BAe 146/Avro RJ 70–112 5 1983 2001 394 UK
Fokker 100 97–122 5 1988 1997 283 Netherlands
Bombardier CRJ100/200 50 4 1992 2006 1021 Canada
Fokker 70 72–85 5 1994 1997 48 Netherlands
Embraer ERJ family 37–50 3 1997 2020 1240 Brazil
Fairchild-Dornier 328JET 30–33 3 1999 2004 110 Germany
Bombardier CRJ700/900/1000 66–104 4 2001 2020 924 Canada
Embraer E-Jet family 66–124 4 2004 in prod. 1687 Brazil
Antonov An-148 68–99 5 2009 2015 44 Ukraine
Sukhoi Superjet 100 87–108 5 2011 suspended in 2022restart planned 232 Russia
Comac ARJ21 78–105 5 2016 in prod. 137 China
Embraer E-Jet E2 family 80–146 4 2018 in prod. 123 Brazil
Mitsubishi SpaceJetfamily (MRJ) 69–92 4 never N/A 7 Japan

Fleet

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Aircraft in Service [Backlog]
Year 2006[35] 2007[36] 2008[37] 2009[38][39] 2010[40][41] 2011[42][43] 2012[44] 2013[45][46] 2014[47] 2015[48] 2016[49] 2018[50]
E-Jet 167 252 390 537 [295] 631 [245] 723 [248] 835 917 [246] 1002 [249] 1102 1146 1349 [286]
CRJ700 260 373 441 497 [116] 545 [73] 580 [61] 592 600 [89] 649 [87] 696 751 777 [54]
CRJ100/200 938 954 950 925 923 824 788 723 648 563 560 498
ERJ 848 854 859 841 776 763 738 722 695 620 553 505
F100/F70 272 273 268 272 256 228 201 200 183 174 154 132
BAE146 310 284 291 284 250 208 183 176 172 160 152 118
SSJ100 [122] [137] 2 [165] 9 13 [206] 28 [242] 50 63 114 [27]
328JET 70 68 59 54 38 17 13 11 14 21 11
An-148 2 2 2 2 [49] 5 [67] 8 11 16 14 [17] 13 13 7 [1]
ARJ21 [55] [87] [189] [252] [306] 2 5 [103]
Spacejet [65] [15] [15] [165] [223] [203]

Aircraft prices

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Graphical comparison between aircraft, based on the number of seats.
May 2016 market prices[51]
Aircraft List ($m) Mkt Value ($m) Discount Seats Mkt/Seat
E-195 52.7 34.8 34% 106 328302
E-190 49.8 33.1 34% 94 352128
E-175 45.0 29.4 35% 78 376923
CRJ1000 49.0 25.5 43% 97 262887
SSJ100-95 35.0 25.3 28% 87 290805
CRJ900 46.0 25.0 46% 76 328947

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Orders and Deliveries Embraer".August 3, 2023.RetrievedJuly 15,2024.
  2. ^"Embraer ERJ-135 600/650, Embraer ERJ-145 production list".Rzjets.
  3. ^Tamilla Curtis; Dawna L. Rhoades; Blaise P. Waguespack Jr. (2013)."Regional Jet Aircraft Competitiveness: Challenges and Opportunities".World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development.9(3). Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University: 307.doi:10.1504/WREMSD.2013.054736.
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  15. ^Scott McCartney (August 13, 2007)."Small Jets, More Trips Worsen Airport Delays".Wall Street Journal.Archivedfrom the original on August 20, 2009.
  16. ^Alan Zibel (August 6, 2007)."Flight Delays Soar to 13-Year High".The Oklahoman.
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  21. ^Gregory Polek (December 14, 2016)."Bombardier's CS300 Enters Service with Air Baltic".Aviation International News.
  22. ^"Airbus introduces the A220-100 and A220-300"(Press release). Airbus. July 10, 2018.
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  27. ^Hemmerdinger, Jon (February 6, 2019)."Bombardier pitches CRJ550 as 'solution' to 700 aging 50-seat jets".Flightglobal.
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  29. ^"MRJ Completes First Flight"(Press release). Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation. November 11, 2015.
  30. ^"Mitsubishi Heavy Announces Pullout from Passenger Jet Development".Jiji Press.February 7, 2023 – via Nippon.
  31. ^"Mitsubishi Heavy Pulls Pin on Regional SpaceJet Aircraft Project".Bloomberg.February 7, 2023.
  32. ^Hemmerdinger, Jon (June 1, 2020)."Mitsubishi closes CRJ acquisition despite SpaceJet uncertainty".Flight Global.
  33. ^David Grossman (February 14, 2005)."State of Independence is still unclear".USA Today.
  34. ^Mozdzanowska, Alexandra; Hansman, R. (December 8, 2006)."Evaluation of Regional Jet Operating Patterns in".
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  49. ^"World airliner census 2016".Flightglobal.
  50. ^"World Airliner Census".Flightglobal.July 2018.
  51. ^"Aircraft Pricing - List vs. market".Airinsight. May 16, 2016.
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