2019 Outlook: A critical year for Mitsubishi’s MRJ regional jet

By Bjorn Fehrm

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Introduction

January 8, 2019, © Leeham News.: Mitsubishi Aircraft’s MRJ should originally have entered service 2013. Now the plan is 2020, a record seven years of delay. But 2020 can be the last delay. On December 21, the program got “Type Inspection Authorization” from its Certification office, the JCAB (Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau).

The brunt of Certification flying should be finished in 2019. Then follows the paperwork and the preparation for service entry with ANA. The year will be critical for how the MRJ project will enter service and ramp serial production.

Summary:
  • The MRJ has seen more delayed years than its original schedule. But the last declared delay might be the final one.
  • The project got a declaration of health just before Christmas. Its oversight authority, JDAC, supported by the FAA, said it was ready to start Certification flights with the aircraft.
  • It's now for Mitsubishi to succeed with these flight so ANA can get the first aircraft by 2020.
  • Work on capacity improvements for the smaller variant, the MRJ70, is also ongoing to make it more suitable for the US Scope Clause market.

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