Japan's first passenger jet is delayed

Japan's first domestically produced passenger jet, the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), arriving at the Nagoya airport in Komaki in Aichi prefecture, central Japan after the first test flight. - AFP

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp will push back delivery of the first Japanese-made passenger jet by a year, the fourth time it has delayed bringing the Mitsubishi Regional Jet to market.
ANA Holdings, the parent company of All Nippon Airways, had been expecting the plane in the second quarter of 2017, but the schedule has been pushed back "approximately one year," Mitsubishi Aircraft said on Thursday in a statement in Nagoya. The company has identified 'several issues' that need addressing, the statement said, without specifying them.
"Whilst this latest delay is very disappointing, we remain confident of the benefits the MRJ will bring to the ANA fleet," Japan's largest airline said in an e-mailed statement. "In the meantime, we have sufficient aircraft capacity to meet demand and implement our network plans until the extended delivery date."
Mitsubishi Aircraft will strengthen the plane's frame and upgrade its software, Senior Executive Vice-President Nobuo Kishi told reporters in Nagoya after the statement was released.
The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries subsidiary started conducting test flights last month as it pushes ahead with developing Japan's first new passenger plane in more than 50 years, and its first-ever passenger jet. The company competes with Brazil's Embraer and Canada's Bombardier in the market for planes with fewer than 100 seats.
Mitsubishi Aircraft had turned to bullet-train specialists to see the plane completed on time, but was still unable to stick to its schedule. News of the delay comes a day after Honda Motor's aircraft unit said it had begun deliveries of the HondaJet, a seven-seat business plane it has described as a "flying sports car."
Masao Ueno, a director at AlixPartners consulting firm, said the renewed delay could have a big impact on MRJ sales.
"ANA needs to take the first aircraft as soon as possible, but they also want to make sure the quality is 100 per cent," he said by phone from Tokyo before the Mitsubishi Aircraft briefing. "Japanese companies are serious about quality, and so the MRJ is being delayed to make sure it's 100 per cent ready."
Mitsubishi Aircraft has received 407 orders, including options and purchase rights, for its two types of planes, which seat from 78 to 92 passengers. In addition to ANA, customers include SkyWest and Trans States Airlines.
SkyWest, which has ordered 100 MRJs, is the biggest customer for the plane. In an e-mailed statement, spokeswoman Marissa Snow said SkyWest's orders "remain unchanged, and are dependent on flying contracts, scope and aircraft availability."
Japan's last homegrown passenger plane was the YS-11, a turboprop made by Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corp, a consortium that included Mitsubishi Heavy, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Fuji Heavy Industries. Only 182 of the planes were sold, and the production line was stopped in 1974 after little more than a decade. - Bloomberg
The MRJ will use a geared turbofan engine built by United Technologies Corp's Pratt & Whitney unit, which is expected to make the jets at least 20 percent more fuel-efficient than similar planes, the company has said.
Mitsubishi Aircraft estimates the cost of developing the MRJ at about ¥180 billion ($1.5 billion). The 92-seat MRJ90 has a list price of $47.3 million, according to the company.