Sighs over size?

“The flight tests of the first test aircraft of the MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet) carried out on August 27 and 28 were aborted when anomalies were detected in the signals generated by sensors monitoring air management systems,” the airframer said.

“Two air management systems, left and right, are installed in the aircraft, and in these events, a malfunction was detected in sensors monitoring the air management systems on the left side. The air management systems operated properly during the flights, however, considering that the long flights are to the United States, the decision was made to take all possible measures to fly the MRJ in a perfect condition. ” But with Mitsubishi opening its Moses Lake test site for flight testing the first version of its MRJ regional jet on September 9, and the cabin on display at the Farnborough Airshow this year, the Japanese airframer seems no less confident in its product.

Yet the point in the market at which Mitsubishi is pitching the two models of the MRJ is unusual, and the passenger experience is at the crux of the matter.

The MRJ70 can seat a maximum of 76 passengers, with the MRJ90 seating 88, in a relatively spacious cabin that enables 18in-wide seats in a 2-2 economy configuration, with a front cabin featuring standard business/ first recliners in a 1-2 layout. The main passenger experience issue is that the bins are relatively small, and don’t compare favourably with those from key competitor Embraer or even the larger Bombardier CSeries.

The sizes that Mitsubishi selected for its first two aircraft are also an issue. The airframer suggests – and examples from regional jets of similar size with two-cabin service concur – that most airlines with first or business cabins on both MRJ models will seat nine in three 1-2 rows. This will, in general, reduce the total number of seats on board each aircraft by approximately 11-12 seats from the “max pax” configuration, depending on economy seat pitch.

The question for MRJ, of course, is whether these aircraft are correctly sized for markets outside the United States. Of the MRJ’s 447 orders and options/purchase rights, 340 are from US carriers: 200 from SkyWest, 100 from Trans States, and 40 from Eastern, each split equally between orders and options. A large chunk of the remainder consists of JAL’s 32 firm orders and ANA’s 15 orders plus 10 options, with 10 of each from lessors Aerolease and Rockton, plus six and four of each from Air Mandalay, round out the order book.

Typically, most US airlines – a key market for this size of aircraft given the scope clauses in airline pilot collective bargaining agreements that place upper limits on the size of aircraft that can be operated by regional subsidiary or contract airlines – will reduce the overall seat count from the maximum via the installation of a first class cabin. This fits with the 76-seat scope clause limits that affect key MRJ buyers SkyWest and Trans States. Both airlines operate regional flights for United and American, with SkyWest also operating for Delta and Alaska.

Competitor Bombardier, which offers the CRJ900, expects the lack of scope clause changes to buoy the market for the similarly-sized 90-seater CRJ derivative, and MRJ will also feel this effect for the MRJ90.

Yet in the increasingly important markets without the externalities of the scope clause in effect, the airline economics of the MRJ (and any regional jet-sized aircraft) are different.

That’s particularly true in parts of the world that do not have separated premium cabins, like Europe, where business class passengers either see a spare economy seat next to them or not, depending on the airline. QantasLink’s single-cabin Boeing 717 subfleet is another example of that kind of market.

In circumstances like this, cabin crew costs, in particular, are directly linked to the number of seats on board: 50 passengers per flight attendant is the international certification standard. Being able to divide the costs of two pilots among more passengers is also an advantage. As a result, there are clear efficiencies around the 100-passenger mark, and these are perhaps the reason for the proposed MRJ100X stretch.

Increasingly efficient turboprop aircraft from Bombardier and ATR, too, are likely to affect the market for the smaller MRJ70, although there is still a perception issue with turboprops among some flyers. And while the E170 and MRJ70-sized market is popular among many passengers for the quick-on, quick-off passenger experience – see ‘shuttle’ operations in the US, Japan and Europe – the small overhead bins of the MRJ family may mean they prove less desirable.

Watch this space.

The question for MRJ, of course, is whether these aircraft are correctly sized for markets outside the United States.