PW1100G-powered Airbus market–the Pratt &Whitney body modelspoised toenterthe operator. service withitsfirst­ and theComacARJ21enters commands a limited presence theSukhoiSuperjetnow of a relative newcomer inthe form operations,of where E2s standtoredefine thelimits E-Jets calledthe generation of Mitsubishi MRJandthenext while, new aircraft suchasthe line airline business. Mean unhealthy duopoly inthemain- ufacturers, threaten toupsetan the newcomers’estimate man of crowded the field and, in the C919 andIrkut MC-21have the Bombardier CSeries, orders, upstartsintheform of have new taken themajorityof 737 Max and Airbus A320neo planners.fleet While theBoeing the world’sfor the attention of than five new competitors vying mercial aviation, withnofewer com active segmentinallof perhaps themostdynamic and Polek Gregory by chase leadersAirbusandBoeing Trio rivals ofnewnarrowbody Air Transport The first of thenew narrow The firstof Single-aisle airliners occupy Chinese - - - - production orindevelopment. any othersingle-aisleairplanein long-haul markets inaccessible by tic routes andpotentially opening ket, flying transatlan capable- of single-aisle airliner onthemar now ranks as thelongest-range 2019, the so-called A321neo 97t Expected towincertification in to carry206passengers4,000nm. the A321neo designed version of Airbus launchedalong-range next year. In January last year A319neo, before the middle of and thesmallestmodel, gain certification late thisyear stretch variant, theA321neo, to thefamily’spowered version of pany describedas“minor.” by aseparate problem thecom- April and again in late September thegeared turbofanenginesin of craft, grounded by adefectinone recoup timelostonthefirstair aircraftamong itsflight-test to to redistribute certification work ber 24,afterthecompany had EASA certification onNovem A320neo–gained itsjointFAA- for the Pratt geared-turbofan- The original three-month Development schedulescall - - - for theGTF-powered A320neos al work previously earmarked plane hadtoundertake addition- test revisions meantthat air maintenance. Airbus’s flight- equipment enhancement and grade installation, onboard over thesummer for engine-up- ued flying after pausing briefly tional Leap-1A ­ with alternative CFMInterna - returned totestingby late July. aircrafttor section. Both had in thepowerplant’s combus 10-inch-diameter retaining ring amanufacturing defectina of powered, followed discovery tial two A320neos, bothGTF- “pause” in testing of the ini “pause” in testing of CS300 CS100 Maximum Takeoff Weights andRangeLimits: Height: Length: Wingspan: Engines: Bombardier CSeries A third machine–equipped A third machine–equipped engines–contin- 149,000 134,000 (lbs) Mtow CS100/CS300 CS300 CS100 CS100/CS300 & Pratt Whitney PW1500G - - - and unrelated toenginesystems. “a few weeks” to help Pratt & thefirstA320neoby delivery of on December30,Airbus delayed to take thefirstairplane. Finally, leading toLufthansa’s agreement ing restriction involving theGTF, balked at atemporary operat resulted when Qatar Airways ever, achangeinlaunchcustomer theyear. Howby theendof plans todeliver thefirst airplane that theincidentwould notaffect Emirates. Thecompany insisted weather trialsintheUnitedArab its enginesfollowing hot- in oneof after findinga“minorproblem” Pratt-powered example yet again, ithadtoground firmed thefirst Bombardier CSeries CS100 On September30Airbus con- 3,300 3,100 Range (nm) 37 ft, 8in 127 ft 114 ft, 9in 115 ft, 1in 130 108 class seating Typical two- - -

© 2016 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to www.ainonline.com Whitney to address documenta- tion items. Airbus continues flight tri- als of the CFM-powered ver- sion of the A320neo, scheduled for certification by the mid- dle of the year. The Leap-1A gained joint FAA/EASA certi- fication on November 20, mak- ing CFM the only company to Boeing 737 Max gain dual original certification Boeing 737 Max 8 Engine: CFM Leap-1B from both agencies. Typically, Wingspan: Max 7/8/200/9 117 ft, 10 in a lead agency issues type certi- Length: Max 7 110 ft, 5 in fication and the second agency than 4,400 copies, holds a consid- validates it. Calling the Leap erable sales edge over the Max. Max 8/200 129 ft, 8 in development and certification Launched roughly a year-and-a- Max 9 138 ft, 4 in effort the most extensive in its half later than the Neo, however, Height: Max 7/8/200/9 40 ft, 4 in history, CFM tested 34 of the the Max has sold at an undeni- Maximum Takeoff Weights and Range Limits: engines, logging more than ably impressive rate itself. Mtow (lbs) Range (nm) Typical two-class 6,500 hours and 13,450 cycles. On schedule for certifica- seating tion and delivery to launch 737 Max 7 159,500 3,350 126 Max Power customer Southwest Airlines As the sole engine available in the third quarter of next 737 Max 8 181,200 3,515 162 for the 737 Max 7, Max 8, Max year, the Max had gathered 737 Max 9 194,700 3,280 178 9 and Max 200, the Leap-1B nat- firm orders for 2,995 copies by Note: range of 737 Max 200 in one-class seating with 200 passengers is 2,700 nm. urally has outsold the the time the company rolled 1A, notwithstanding the first example out of its held some 60 percent of the Max 8 on schedule. In early the fact that the Neo, paint hangar on December total volume of orders for June it announced that it had with firm orders for more 8. Although Airbus new narrowbodies by the end started to assemble the wings of last year, 737 Max for the first airplane, marking general manager the official start of production Keith Leverkuhn of the company’s latest series www.ainonline.com insisted Boeing of narrowbodies. would soon reach parity. Boeing places particular “Don’t forget that the emphasis on the airplane’s newly Airbus A320neo launched 18 designed winglets, which the com- months ahead of the Max,” he pany estimates will deliver fuel Airbus A320neo told reporters gathered on the efficiency up to 1.8 percent bet- floor of the company’s Renton, ter than current “in-line” winglet Airbus A320neo Series Wash. assembly building the designs can muster. Engines: Pratt & Whitney PW1100G or CFM Leap-1A day before the airplane’s roll- Boeing will build the first 737 Wingspan: A319neo/A320neo/ 117 ft, 5 in out. “They gained orders early. Max jets exclusively on a new A321neo But we’re comfortable with the production line in the Renton Length: A319neo 111 ft way the market is settling… It’s factory. The new line will allow A320neo 123 ft, 3 in about fifty-fifty.” the team to isolate assembly of A321neo 146 ft Boeing held the decidedly the first 737 Max from the rest Height: A319neo/A320neo/ 38 ft, 7 in low-key rollout ceremony less of production to help it learn A321neo than three months after start- and perfect the new construc-

Maximum Takeoff Weights and Range Limits: ing final assembly of the first tion process while the Renton © 2016 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to Mtow (lbs) Range (nm) Typical two-class seating A319neo 166,400 3,750 140 A320neo 174,200 3,500 165 A321neo 213,800* 4,000* 206 *Specifications for A321LR version w factory continues to turn out 42 airplanes each month. The company has set an efficiency improvement target for the Max 8 of 14 percent over the 737-800NG. Boeing expects still more Comac C919 seat-mile-cost savings from the Max 200, a ­subvariant of viable in its home country. Comac C919 the Max 8 designed to hold as Bombardier could rightly Engines: CFM Leap-1C many as 200 passengers, com- counter that in the capacity cat- pared with 189 in the baseline egory the CSeries CS300 occu- Wingspan: 117 ft, 5 in version. Launched in Septem- pies, its product has actually Length: 127 ft, 7 in ber 2014 with a firm order outsold the 737 Max 7 and Height: 39 ft, 2 in from Ryanair for 100 of the A319neo, neither of which have Maximum Takeoff Weights and Range Limits: airplanes in a 197-seat config- attracted much attention or Mtow (lbs) Range (nm) Typical two-class seating uration, the Max 200 incorpo- market success. Still, questions rates a mid-exit door to meet about the overall size of the mar- 170,400 3,000 156 emergency egress require- ket persist; as of the end of last ments. Boeing expects to gain year the company still hadn’t col- Fred Cromer during an interview province of Quebec in October. certification for the new design lected the orders for 300 CSeries with AIN earlier last year. “We The investment by the Quebec in 2019, following approval of airplanes management had tar- are now proving that to be the government came three weeks the Max 9 in 2018. geted for the period leading to case, considering what we’re now after Bombardier and Airbus, service entry. seeing with the impressive per- reacting to reports that Bom- Neo, Max Dominate Although the CSeries gained formance; we’re building that bardier had offered a major- Order Activity Transport Canada certification market confidence.” ity stake in the CSeries to the In terms of firm orders, Air- on December 18, Bombardier Of course, Bombardier hadn’t European airframer, each con- bus and Boeing by far dom- has given itself a substantial buf- always gotten things right dur- firmed that they had explored inate a field of competitors fer to ensure the CS100 enters ing the course of the CSeries pro- “certain business opportuni- that includes the Bombardier service on time by the second gram, which suffered no fewer ties” together and that talks CSeries, the Comac C919 and quarter. Speaking with AIN than four separate delays attrib- had ended. the Irkut MC-21. While the Chi- the day of the certification uted to problems ranging from The rescue bid belied Bom- nese C919 and Russia’s MC-21– announcement, CSeries program software glitches to an uncon- bardier’s past efforts to dis- www.ainonline.com officially scheduled to gain their head Rob Dewar explained that tained failure of one of the miss suggestions that it didn’t respective certifications in 2018– Bombardier decided to finish Pratt & Whitney PW1500G tur- control sufficient resources to enjoy somewhat captive mar- operations evaluation by certi- bofans during ground runs on overcome sluggish sales of the kets in their home countries, the fication authorities before for- the first flight-test vehicle. Orig- airplane and the certification CSeries must compete against mally training the pilots rather inally scheduled for certification delay. Before the Quebec invest- the Boeing and Airbus models than performing those tasks in at the end of 2013, the program ment, cost overages and a pau- globally. In Russia, the fall in the parallel as it did during previous finally gained its approval two city of order deposits prompted ruble has led the government to campaigns. That approach has years late and billions of dollars Bombardier to raise $3 billion encourage closer ties between its become more typical across the over budget. in debt and equity last year and manufacturers and airlines. In industry, said Dewar, as a con- announce plans to sell part of the state-controlled air- cession to the high level of soft- Quebec Comes to its train business to boost the lines often face pressure to buy ware integration and automation CSeries Rescue balance sheet. Chinese, and domestically made inherent in modern designs. Bombardier continues talks Bombardier reports that the airplanes weighing less than 25 “The general sentiment is with Canadian federal govern- airplane meets or exceeds all tech- tons enjoy import tax exemp- that everyone wants us to get it ment officials about a further nical specifications. In fact, last tions, factors that have kept the right up front,” said Bombardier $1 billion investment following year Bombardier announced an

long-delayed ARJ21 regional jet Commercial Airplanes president a $1 billion injection from the increase in the CSeries’ maximum © 2016 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to range, to 3,300 nm from 2,950 nm. production soon enough to Meanwhile, the timeline for aviation plant (IAZ), where “Entry into service is crucial. meet demand from airlines Russia’s Irkut MC-21 also appears executives showed him a “com- We need to be flawless,” Cromer outside its domestic market. less than completely firm, given plete fuselage with all sections said during an Investors Day the Foreign program partners have Irkut parent United Aircraft’s having been joined.” A state- company held in New York in told AIN that they cannot com- failure to roll out an assembled ment from Irkut further indi- November. “We have robust ment on the shifting timeline aircraft by the end of last year cated expected shipment of plans in place to ensure our best for the program, while Comac as planned. In January, the first “composite wing consoles sales people will be the opera- officials, speaking on condition MC-21 composite wing panel was shortly,” in time for the first tors of this airplane.” of anonymity, said the first air- delivered to Irkut’s factory by its prototype to fly in this year’s Function and reliability prov- plane needs significantly more supplier Aerocomposite. second quarter. ing runs lent more credence work and ground testing before Last August Irkut reported United Aircraft invited sev- to those plans, as the CSeries authorities clear it to fly. it had mated two fuselage sec- eral Western suppliers to par- logged virtually a 100-percent Comac said in May 2014 that tions of the first MC-21 pro- ticipate in the MC-21 during dispatch reliability and comple- deliveries would begin in 2018 but totype, and re-affirmed 2018 the design’s development from tion rate during the 270 hours it has since declined to provide as the target for type certifi- 2010 to 2014, but the recent of testing on a production con- an update. However, the same cation. In early December the chill in relations with the West figuration aircraft by the time of Comac officials said that deliv- governor of Russia’s Irkutsk forced them out. Last year the Canadian certification, reported ery in 2020 looked more realistic. region inspected the Irkutsk airframer ran tenders among Dewar. The company’s produc- local suppliers to find substi- tion plans call for between 250 Irkut MC-21 tutes for earlier selected West- and 300 deliveries over the next Engines: Pratt & Whitney PW1400G or Aviadvigatel PD14 ern components, and some five years. This year it plans Wingspan: MC-21-200/MC-21-300 118 ft local makers report that Irkut to deliver between 15 and 20, has installed their products on then nearly double that rate to Length: MC-21-200 121 ft the first prototype. between 30 and 35 next year MC-21-300 139 ft Nevertheless, Pratt & Whit­ and eventually reach 90 to 120 Height: MC-21-200/MC-21-300 38 ft ney PW1400G geared turbo- by 2020. Maximum Takeoff Weights and Range Limits: fans will power the MC-21 on www.ainonline.com However, questions remain Mtow (lbs) Range (nm) Typical two-class seating its first flight. Irkut placed an as to whether the Chinese order for 100 of the engines, MC-21-200 159,590 3,238 135 group can get the C919 into and Pratt & Whitney reported it MC-21-300 174,713 3,184 163 had started shipments. An alter- native powerplant–in the form of the domestically designed PD14 turbofan–completed testing in a thermal barometric chamber that emulated atmo- spheric conditions for flight at altitudes of up to 37,000 feet. The successful completion of that testing, announced on December 9, paves the way for flight-tests with the engine mounted on an Ilyushin Il-76 Irkut MC-21 in place of one of its original

D30KP turbofans. o © 2016 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to after flying three test mis- at program launch in 2008. sions from Nagoya, Japan, “Specifically, in the prog- Latest crop of RJs Mitsubishi announced ress of our engineering work another one-year delay together with experts in the to certification following United States, we have made on the way this year its recognition of “several additions to and revisions of issues” during the course test items to complete a bet- of engineering work with ter-integrated aircraft,” said While the crowded field and systems glitches, forced experts in the U.S. Con- Mitsubishi in a statement. of mainline narrowbodies Mitsubishi to move its first sequently, expected first “These have been reflected in has drawn interest from air- flight target no fewer than delivery to Japan’s All Nip- the new delivery schedule. In lines around the world for its four times before the MRJ pon Airways has shifted to addition, we have undertaken promises of double-digit fuel- finally took to the air on the second quarter of 2018, an overall review with our burn improvements, man- November 11. nearly five years later than partners, and reflected this in ufacturers of new regional The following month, the original target date set our development schedule.” jets haven’t stood still either, using some of the same tech- nology advances employed by their bigger counterparts to achieve equally impressive cost advantages over cur- rent technology. The 92-seat Mitsubishi MRJ90, for exam- ple, flew for the first time last November under the power www.ainonline.com of a pair of Pratt & Whitney turbofans whose geared Mitsubishi MRJ90 architecture closely resem- bles that of the powerplants in the A320neo, Bombardier CSeries and Irkut MC-21. Like the CSeries, however, the Japanese regional jet has suffered through its share of travails, most notably involv- ing a failure to follow FAA procedures introduced in 2009 for validating regula- tory compliance of produc- tion processes. The resulting delay, along with several oth- Embraer E190-E2

ers involving design changes © 2016 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to The company added it would carry out the planned flight-test campaign in North America “as soon as feasible.” It last said it would start certification flight-test- ing in the U.S. during this year’s second quarter. Comac ARJ21 Mitsubishi decided to conduct­ much of the MRJ’s flight-testing at Grant Eastern Airways, Myan- Jose dos Campos, Brazil, an operational standpoint, County Airport in Moses mar’s Air Mandalay, Japan’s Embraer plans to use four the fairly extensive design Lake, Wash., in the U.S., to All Nippon Airways and flight-test airplanes in the changes will deprive the com- take advantage of its long Japan Airlines account for program, three of which it pany of production common- runways and lack of reg- the rest of Mitsubishi’s MRJ expects to fly this year and ality. Embraer has had to ular scheduled airline ser- firm order total of 223 wair- the fourth–equipped with a install all-new rigs and faces vice. Other testing sites in planes. Launch customer full interior–early next year. a challenging three- to four- the U.S. include Gunnison- ANA, which holds a firm Embraer plans to deliver year period during which pro- Crested Butte Regional Air- order for 15 and options on the first E190-E2 in the first duction of the current E-Jet port in Colorado, where it another 10, now expects to half of 2018. It has sched- and E2 variants will overlap. plans to conduct high-alti- launch service with single- uled the E195-E2 to enter While the E190-E2 serves tude takeoff and landing class, 88-seat MRJ90s in service a year later and the as the baseline model and tests. Meanwhile, it has cho- mid-2018. The airline plans E175-E2 in 2020. retains the E190’s current sen Roswell International to use the MRJs to replace During a briefing at last seating capacity, the sec- Air Center in New Mexico at least some of the Bom- November’s Dubai Airshow, ond model scheduled for for special runway tests and bardier Q400s and Boeing Embraer Commercial Air- EIS–the E195-E2 in 2019– McKinley Climatic Labora- 737-500s now flown by sub- planes CEO Paulo Cesar will carry three more rows www.ainonline.com tory in Florida for extreme- sidiary ANA Wings. de Souza e Silva said that of four-abreast passenger environment testing. In terms of order activ- Embraer plans a two-year seats than the current E195 Plans call for the first fly- ity, the MRJ’s most formi- transition between produc- holds, giving it a maximum ing prototype to perform dable competition comes in tion of the E1s and E2s, high-density capacity of envelope expansion and sys- the form of the re-engined building E1s until at least 144 passengers. Finally, the tems tests; the second to Embraer E-Jets known as 2020. Production rates will smallest of the three models, carry out performance and the E2s. The Brazilian com- climb slightly over the next the E175-E2, will enter ser- function tests; the third to pany finished assembling two years, he added, and the vice in 2020 and carry one evaluate detailed flight char- the first of the three-mem- company plans to maintain more row of seats, raising its acteristics and avionics tests; ber series of jets, the Pratt rates through the produc- capacity to between 80 and the fourth to perform interior, & Whitney PW1900G-pow- tion transition. 90 passengers. community noise and icing ered E190-E2, at the end of Although Embraer pro- tests; and the fifth to assess last year and expects to fly motes the principle of cock- ARJ21 To Enter Service autopilot function. the 106-seater by the second pit and systems architecture This Month Apart from U.S. regional half of this year, possibly commonality between the Residing in roughly the airlines SkyWest and Trans as early as July. Now oper- current E-Jets and the E2s same capacity category

States, U.S. startup carrier ating its iron bird in São for an easy transition from the E175-E2 occupies, the © 2016 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to Superjet 100,hasflown in involvement, theSukhoi ily by influenced government ment approval. depend onChinesegovern lines, whose decisions fleet all have comefrom domesticair dard version canfly 1,200nm. kg (89,286pounds),thestan- 40,500 weightmum of takeoff 39,000feet.Atamaxi tude of 0.78 andat amaximum alti turbofans, itcruisesat Mach General ElectricCF34-10 of figuration. Powered by apair class, five-seat-abreast con and 78 passengers in mixed- in standard configuration sion tocarry90passengers It designedthebaselinever erty rightsowned by China.” nese typecertification. than ayear aftergainingChi- behind schedule and more this month,somenineyears ready toenterrevenue service November and finally stands na’s ChengduAirlines last trial operations withChi first ComacARJ21entered 278 airplanes, virtually all to have collectedorders for exclusive intellectualprop powered regional jetwith ARJ21 as“anew turbofan- Superjet Slowly Gaining Another regional jetheav Although Comacclaims Comac describesthe Tractionin West ------revenue servicefor almost with a Western customer and ond majorSuperjetcontract national (SJI).Asthesec Italy-based Superjet Inter Venice,and supportarm, (SCAC) anditsWestern sales its at SukhoiCivil Aircraft ern customer, raising spir order from its second West recently attracted a firm Russian andCISmarkets. the modest requirements of airplanes tomeeteven the toward producing enough Civil Aircraft’s slow progress ern demandandSukhoi from West relative lackof seat regional jethassuffered France, the100- Snecma of between Russia’s Saturn and fans built by apartnership Powerjet SaM146turbo- of five years. Powered by apair Nevertheless, theairplane Sukhoi SSJ100 - - - - - it has placed firm orders.it hasplacedfirm All the30airplanesfor which of ator, includes16 anditsfleet Superjet’s only Western oper ment for bothcompanies. resents amajoraccomplish- regional airlines CityJet rep 15 airplanesinvolving Irish the CIS, theleasedealfor the first inEurope outside airplanes peryear. pany andSJIsellat least 30 has mandated that hiscom that theRussian government Evgeny Andrachnikov noted have entered service. duction airplane in April 2011 SCAC delivered thefirstpro- 100 SSJ100s produced since themore than told, only 60of Mexico’s Interjet was the SCAC senior vice president November’s DubaiAirshow, Until theCityJet deal, at Speaking withAINat - - - approved therenewed ­ craft’s executive board tail gap, notedAndrachnikov. significantly closethewhite- the idle jets will to place 32 of sian leasingcompany GTLK recent commitmentby Rus this year and34next year. A plans toproduce 25Superjets for theremaining 42. Business jetswould account 110-125 passengers) 140. seating-capacity version (for 95LR) 331andanenlarged- Long Range model(SSJ100- would account for 82, the Basic model(SSJ100-95B) 800. earlier goalof through 2031rather thanthe 595SSJ100s ing for salesof plan for theSuperjet,call some 40white tails, SCAC In October, United Air Despite theexistence of Of the595airplanes, the Of business o - - -

© 2016 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to www.ainonline.com