New Narrowbodies
Bombardier’s CSeries with P&W engines is to be followed by the Russian Irkut MC-21 (MS-21) of UAC, considered being a successor of the Tu-204, also with P&W engines. Intended in versions between 150 and more than 200 seats, it was conceived as a competitor to the 737 and A320 series, initially intended for delivery in 2016, then delayed. The Chinese answer was the Comac C119, performing its first flight in 2017. All in all, neither Airbus nor Boeing considered the competitors being a threat for at least a decade. Examples of the past are the mistakes of Daimler-Benz on that sector. In 1992 it bought Fokker and in 1997 this Dutch pioneer of regional jets was closed down due to high losses. In 1996 Dornier was given away to Fairchild. Though its modern 728 regional jet had orders by Lufthansa, Fairchild collapsed, the program was taken over by Chinese investors D’ Long, and finally it was closed down in 2004. Airbus seemed not to be interested, perhaps for it held at that time a 10% share in Embraer.
Traditional regional jets were the Canadair Regional jet or Bombardier CRJ series, flying first in 1991. With the Bombardier CSeries of 2012, the engines were relocated from the rear to an underwing position. Geared turbofan engine problems were reported. In 2017 CSALP was organized, 50.01% held by Airbus and it renamed the twinjet as the A220. Competitor Embraer relocated engines to an underwing position with the Embraer 170 of 2002, followed by the 175, 190 and 195 with all its variants, closing the gap to the Boeing 737. Other regional jets are the Tupolev and Antonov developments and the Chinese ARJ21 (the “Baby DC-9”). They were to be outdone by the SSJ100 and variants, the “Superjet” of traditional Russian fighter producer Sukhoi, with 2 turbofan engines in a modern under-wing pod installation. The Mitsubishi Regional Jet MRJ with P&W geared turbofan engines absolved its test flight in 2016, but delivery was delayed. For all the 80-160-seaters, just below the B.737 or A320 mainliner series, Boeing has predicted a market share of barely16% by the year 2020. After Airbus has taken control of Canada’s C-Series, Boeing took control of Brazil’s Embraer regional jet production and in 2019 Flight Intl (Jan01) has announced Boeing’s “80% stake in this joint venture” – named BB-C.
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