A regional jet (RJ) is a jet-powered regional airliner with fewer than 100 seats. The first one was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by the widespread Yakovlev Yak-40, Fokker F-28, and BAe 146. The 1990s saw the emergence of the most widespread Canadair Regional Jet and its Embraer Regional Jet counterpart, then the larger Embraer E-Jet and multiple competing projects. In the US, they are limited in size by scope clauses.
The market was consolidated as Bombardier Aviation sold its airliner programs between 2017 and 2019, leaving Embraer as the sole large independent regional jet manufacturer, while emerging players try to push competitors: the Mitsubishi SpaceJet, Sukhoi Superjet 100, Comac ARJ21, and Antonov An-148.
Regional Jet is a term in industry jargon and not a regulatory category. Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University defines the regional jet as up to 100 seats in capacity. [2] This is also the limit capacity for two flight attendants. [3] FlightGlobal sort the 66- to 146-seat Embraer E-Jet/E2 as a regional aircraft, [4] but the 116- to 141-seat Airbus A220 (ex Bombardier CSeries) as a mainline airliner. [5] Boeing defines regional jets as below 90 seats. [6]
Regional Jet is used in the name of multiple airliners:
The scope clauses, limiting the aircraft size and number in US regional airlines, are often a design point for regional jets. Since 2012, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines cap their regional airlines' jets at 76 seats and maximum take-off weight at 86,000 lb (39 t). [8]
For an EASA assessment of aircraft noise, regional jets were defined by ICAO/CAEP experts as 30–50 t (66,000–110,000 lb) MTOW aircraft. [9]
These aircraft are widely used by commuter airlines such as SkyWest and American 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 US Essential Air Service program.[ citation needed ]
In 1959 was introduced the Sud Aviation Caravelle (80 to 140 seats), ordered by Flag Carriers, the first purpose-built short-haul jetliner, a twin turbojet design for inter-European routes. The Caravelle used the forward fuselage nose section of the de Havilland Comet, the first commercial jetliner, not effective for continental-European flights. The BAC One-Eleven (89 to 119 seats) was then introduced in 1965.
In 1968, Aeroflot introduced the 32-seat Yakovlev Yak-40 and the 65- to 85-seat Fokker F28 Fellowship was introduced in 1969. In 1975, the 40- to 44-seat VFW-Fokker 614 saw service entry with its distinctive overwing engines, 19 were built. Some business jets like the British Aerospace 125 (first delivery: 1964) and Dassault Falcon 20 (1965) were operated by small airlines from the 1960s, and the small Aerospatiale Corvette (1974) was used as a regional airliner from the 1970s.
In 1978, the US Airline Deregulation Act led to route liberalization, favouring small airliners demand. US passengers were disappointed by these, lacking aircraft lavatories or flight attendants of larger jet aircraft. As feeder routes grew, regional airlines replaced these small aircraft with larger turboprop airliners to feed larger airline hubs. These medium airliners were then supplanted by faster, longer range, regional jets like the first Bombardier CRJ100/200. Early small jets had higher operating costs than turboprops on short routes. The gap narrowed with better turbofans, and closed with the higher utilization due to higher speeds.
In 1983 British Aerospace introduced its BAe 146 short-range jet, produced in three sizes between 70 and 112 seats: the -100, -200, and the largest -300, later renamed the Avro Regional Jet. Low aircraft noise and short takeoffs were suited to city-center to city-center service, a small market niche, like the de 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 the Dash 8.
In 1988, the 97- to 122-seat Fokker 100, a stretched F28, was introduced, followed by the shorter, 72– to 85-seat Fokker 70 in 1994.
Low fuel prices drove the development of the regional jet: in the 1990s oil prices were around $10–20 per barrel. Turboprop manufacturers wanted to develop their portfolio. Canadair's purchase by Bombardier in 1986 enabled a 50-seat stretched development of its Challenger business jet, green-lighted by then chief executive Laurent Beaudoin in March 1989. The first Bombardier four-abreast Canadair Regional Jet was delivered in October 1992 to Lufthansa CityLine. [10]
Embraer then developed the 50-seat three-abreast ERJ 145 from the EMB-120 Brasilia turboprop, 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 mainline jet airliners like McDonnell Douglas DC-9s and Boeing 737s. [10] They can be used for direct airport-to-airport flights, to the detriment of the hub-and-spoke model.
Since 1999, the Fairchild Dornier 328JET was also competing but the type did not enter large scale production as Fairchild Dornier went bankrupt, also ending the larger Fairchild Dornier 728 family development. 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 of Fokker, whose Fokker 100 found itself squeezed on both sides by new models of the Boeing 737 and Airbus A319 on the "large" side and the RJs on the "small side".[ citation needed ] On 5 February 1996, Bombardier started looking at a takeover of a struggling Fokker, producer of the Fokker 100 100-seater. After evaluating Fokker's opportunities and challenges, Bombardier dropped the prospect on 27 February. [11] 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 ]
The share of US domestic passengers flying in 32- to 100-seat regional jets grew to one-third from 2000 to 2005, as network carriers subcontracted low-volume routes to cheaper commuter airlines with smaller planes. Amid regional jet usage saturation, bankruptcy of regional airlines and shrinking of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, cramped 50-seaters were evolving into more spacious 70- to 100-seaters, limited by union rules. [12]
In late 2005, Bombardier suspended its CRJ-200 production line. [13]
Between 2000 through 2006, 385 large planes were grounded while 1,029 regional jets were added. [14] 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. [15]
US major carriers high pilots' wages led them to subcontract flights to regional airlines with lower labor costs. Pilot unions then demanded to regulate subcontracted aircraft size to a 50 seats maximum scope clause. In turn, large routes were served by sub-optimal 50-seat jets which accelerated demand for those types in North 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. [10]
After 9/11, 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 market consolidated. Larger aircraft came back on regional routes for their efficiency, 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. [10]
Bombardier switched to its lengthened 70- to 100-seat CRJ700/900/1000, while Embraer launched the four-abreast E-Jet series 170/175/190/195. 50-seat jet demand is lower with high fuel prices, and this reflects on their lower market value. A majority of them will be scrapped. [10]
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-seat Antonov An-148, designed and produced by Antonov in 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.
United Aircraft Corporation subsidiary Sukhoi developed the Superjet 100, it made its maiden flight on 19 May 2008 and was introduced in April 2011 with Armavia.[ citation needed ] It typically seats 98 passengers and is powered by 2 PowerJet SaM146 turbofans from a Safran/NPO Saturn joint venture. [16]
Many CRJ100/200 were retired since 2003 and in 2013 the first Embraer ERJ were disassembled: 50-seaters' value was dwindling as US carriers were dropping them. [17] The ERJ retirements could be exacerbated because Rolls-Royce plc restricts parts choice, making engine maintenance more expensive, but its TotalCare agreements provide cost predictability. [18]
The Comac ARJ21 is a 78- to 90-seat jet manufactured by the Chinese state-owned aerospace company Comac. 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 its CAAC Type Certification on 30 December 2014 and was introduced on 28 June 2016 by Chengdu Airlines. Resembling the McDonnell Douglas MD-80/MD-90 produced under licence in China, it features a 25° swept, supercritical wing designed by Antonov and twin rear-mounted General Electric CF34 engines.
Bombardier Aerospace developed the 108- to 160-seat CSeries powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW1000G geared turbofans. [19] The smaller CS100 entered service in July 2016 with Swiss Global Air Lines and the larger CS300 entered service with airBaltic in December. [20] After the April 2016 CSeries dumping petition by Boeing, Airbus acquired a 50.01% majority stake in the program in October 2017 and renamed it the A220-100/300 in July 2018. [21]
In 2017, Embraer started calling large, almost narrowbody regional jets "crossover" jets, for the Embraer E-Jet E2 and the CSeries. [22] While those rival the A320neo, the smaller MRJ and SSJ100 could be stretched. [23] They are often the largest airliners which can access city airports like London City Airport, benefiting from their longer range and lower fuel burn to open new markets while making lower noise for better local community acceptance. [24]
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 lower MTOW to comply with the scope clauses, and hopes to sell this new configuration to replace up to 700 existing 50-seaters with US regional airlines. [25] [26]
By August 2019, there were 1,100 50-seat jets operated worldwide including 700 in the US, many more than 20 years old.SkyWest wants 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 by scope clauses. [27]
The Mitsubishi SpaceJet (ex MRJ), seating 70–90 passengers and manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, made its first flight on 11 November 2015. [28] After several delays, the program was canceled in February 2023. [29] [30] After Bombardier Aviation divested its CSeries and Dash 8 programmes, it sold the CRJ programme to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, in a deal that closed on 1 June 2020. [31]
A smaller airplane is more costly per seat mile than a larger plane, but it mostly depends on the airline: in 2005, Bombardier was 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 at Southwest Airlines but 15 cents at Continental Airlines. [32]
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 to Monterrey, 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 as Macon, Georgia, and Brownsville, 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. [33]
Model | Seats | Seats /Row | Intro. | Prod. end | Built | State |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sud Aviation Caravelle | 80–140 | 5 | 1959 | 1972 | 282 | |
Yakovlev Yak-40 | 32 | 4 | 1968 | 1981 | 1011 | |
Fokker F28 Fellowship | 55–70 | 5 | 1969 | 1987 | 241 | |
VFW-Fokker 614 | 40–44 | 4 | 1975 | 1977 | 19 | |
BAe 146/Avro RJ | 70–112 | 5 | 1983 | 2001 | 387 | |
Fokker 100 | 97–122 | 5 | 1988 | 1997 | 283 | |
Bombardier CRJ100/200 | 50 | 4 | 1992 | 2006 | 1021 | |
Fokker 70 | 72–85 | 5 | 1994 | 1997 | 48 | |
Embraer ERJ family | 37–50 | 3 | 1997 | 2020 | 1213 | |
Fairchild-Dornier 328JET | 30–33 | 3 | 1999 | 2004 | 110 | |
Bombardier CRJ700/900/1000 | 66–104 | 4 | 2001 | 2020 | 924 | |
Embraer E-Jet family | 66–124 | 4 | 2004 | in prod. | 1661 | |
Antonov An-148 | 68–99 | 5 | 2009 | in prod. | 42 | |
Sukhoi Superjet 100 | 87–108 | 5 | 2011 | in prod. | 229 | |
Comac ARJ21 | 78–105 | 5 | 2016 | in prod. | 111 | |
Embraer E-Jet E2 family | 80–146 | 4 | 2018 | in prod. | 74 | |
Mitsubishi SpaceJet family (MRJ) | 69–92 | 4 | never | N/A | 7 |
Year | 2006 [34] | 2007 [35] | 2008 [36] | 2009 [37] [38] | 2010 [39] [40] | 2011 [41] [42] | 2012 [43] | 2013 [44] [45] | 2014 [46] | 2015 [47] | 2016 [48] | 2018 [49] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | 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 |
Bombardier Aviation is a division of Bombardier Inc. It is headquartered in Dorval, Quebec, Canada. Its most popular aircraft included the Dash 8 Series 400, CRJ100/200/440, and CRJ700/900/1000 lines of regional airliners, and the newer CSeries. It also manufactured the Bombardier 415 amphibious water-bomber, and currently makes the Global Express and the Challenger lines of business jets.
Embraer S.A. is a Brazilian multinational aerospace corporation. It designs, manufactures, and sells commercial, military, executive, and agricultural aircraft, as well as provides leasing and aviation support services. Embraer is the third largest producer of civil aircraft after Boeing and Airbus, and the leading provider of regional jets worldwide; it is also among the world's top 100 defense contractors. The company is headquartered in São José dos Campos, São Paulo.
America West Express was the brand name for America West Airlines commuter and regional flights operated by Mesa Air Group's Mesa Airlines under a code share agreement. Today Mesa Airlines operates for American Eagle.
The Embraer ERJ family are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135, ERJ140, and ERJ145, as well as the Legacy 600 business jet and the R-99 family of military aircraft.
Mesa Airlines, Inc., is an American regional airline based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an FAA Part 121–certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number MASA036A issued on June 29, 1979. It is a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group and operates flights as United Express via respective code sharing agreements with United Airlines. It serves more than 180 markets in the Western Hemisphere. In a 1997 article from the Journal of Air Transportation, Mesa's safety record was noted as having the fewest incidents among domestic regional airlines at that time. Mesa filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2010, hoping to shed financial obligations for leases on airplanes it no longer needed and emerged from bankruptcy in March 2011. In November 2017, Mesa opened a new training center in Phoenix. The 23,000-square-foot facility features a full-size CRJ-200 cabin trainer aircraft, 14 classrooms, and has the capacity to train 300 crew members at one time.
A regional airliner or a feederliner is a small airliner that is designed to fly up to 100 passengers on short-haul flights, usually feeding larger carriers' airline hubs from small markets. This class of airliners is typically flown by the regional airlines that are either contracted by or subsidiaries of the larger airlines. Regional airliners are used for short trips between smaller towns or from a larger city to a smaller city. Feederliner, commuter, and local service are all alternative terms for the same class of flight operations.
The Bombardier CRJ or CRJ Series is a family of regional jets introduced in 1991 by Bombardier Aerospace. The CRJ was formerly manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace with the manufacturing of the first CRJ generation, the CRJ100/200 and the second CRJ generation, the CRJ700 series. The CRJ programme was acquired by Japanese corporation Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in a deal that closed 1 June 2020. Bombardier subsequently completed assembly of the order backlog on behalf of Mitsubishi.
The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by Longview Aviation Capital in 2019, reviving the De Havilland Canada brand. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW100s, it was developed from the Dash 7 with improved cruise performance and lower operational costs, but without STOL performance. Three sizes were offered: initially the 37–40 seat -100 until 2005 and the more powerful -200 from 1995, the stretched 50–56 seats -300 from 1989, both until 2009, and the 68–90 seats -400 from 1999, still in production. The QSeries are post-1997 variants fitted with active noise control systems.
Trans States Airlines was a regional airline owned by Trans States Holdings and headquartered in Bridgeton, Missouri. At the time of its closing, the airline operated flights for United Airlines under the United Express brand. Trans States Airlines ceased all operations on April 1, 2020.
The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast, narrow-body, short- to medium-range, twin-engined jet airliners designed and produced by Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer.
The Airbus A220 is a family of five-abreast narrow-body airliners by Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (ACLP). It was originally developed by Bombardier and had two years in service as the Bombardier CSeries. The program was launched on 13 July 2008, the smaller A220-100 made its maiden flight on 16 September 2013, was awarded an initial type certificate by Transport Canada on 18 December 2015, and entered service on 15 July 2016 with launch operator Swiss Global Air Lines. The longer A220-300 first flew on 27 February 2015, received an initial type certificate on 11 July 2016, and entered service with airBaltic on 14 December 2016.
Nantucket Memorial Airport is a public airport on the south side of the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the Town of Nantucket and is located three miles (5 km) southeast of the town center. It is the second-busiest airport in the state, after Logan International Airport, due to intense corporate travel to and from the island in the high season.
The Fokker 70 is a narrow-body, twin-engined, medium-range, turbofan regional airliner designed and produced by the now defunct Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker.
Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. is an American airline holding corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana, that owns Republic Airways, an American regional airline operating in the United States, and LIFT Academy, the only flight training academy owned by an airline in the United States.
A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast seating in a cabin less than 4 metres (13 ft) in width. In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner usually configured with multiple aisles and a fuselage diameter of more than 5 metres (16 ft), allowing at least seven-abreast seating and often more travel classes.
The Bombardier CRJ100 and CRJ200 is a regional jet designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace between 1991 and 2006, the first of the Bombardier CRJ family.
The Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900, and CRJ1000 are a family of regional jet airliners that were designed and manufactured by Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier between 1999 and 2020. Their design was derived from the smaller CRJ100 and 200 airliners, the other members of the Bombardier CRJ aircraft family. The CRJ program was acquired by the Japanese corporation Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2020, which ended production of the aircraft.
A scope clause is part of a contract between a major airline and the trade union of its pilots that limit the number and size of aircraft that may be flown by the airline's regional airline affiliate.
Delta Connection is a regional airline brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to operate services via code sharing agreements in order to increase frequencies in addition to serving routes that would not sustain larger aircraft as well as for other competitive or operational reasons.