The Bombardier CRJ or CRJ Series (for Canadair Regional Jet) is a family of
regional jet
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 ...
s introduced in 1991 by
Bombardier Aerospace
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 CS ...
. The CRJ was formerly manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace with the manufacturing of the first CRJ generation, the
CRJ100/200 (introduced in 1991) and the second CRJ generation, the
CRJ700 series (introduced in 1999). The CRJ programme was acquired by Japanese corporation
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Mo ...
(MHI RJ Aviation Group) in a deal that closed 1 June 2020. Bombardier subsequently completed assembly of the order backlog on behalf of Mitsubishi.
Background
Bombardier claims it is the most successful family of regional jets in the world. By October 2018, 1,800 CRJs had been delivered. Production ended in December 2020 after 1,945 were built.
The family consists of the following aircraft generations and models/derivatives:
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CRJ100/200
**
CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100/200/440) – maximum of 50 passenger seats
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CRJ700 series
**
CL-600-2C10 (Regional Jet Series 700/701/702), marketed as the CRJ700 - maximum of 78 passenger seats
**
CL-600-2D15 (Regional Jet Series 705), marketed as the CRJ705 - maximum of 75 passenger seats
**
CL-600-2D24 (Regional Jet Series 900), marketed as the CRJ900 - maximum of 90 passenger seats
**
CL-600-2E25 (Regional Jet Series 1000), marketed as the CRJ1000 - maximum of 104 passenger seats
** On February 6, 2019, Bombardier launched the CRJ550, based on the CRJ700, with 50 seats in three classes.
The launch customer,
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. , ordered 50 aircraft configured with 10 first class, 20 Economy Plus and 20 economy seats, to be delivered later in 2019.
Divestment
, following Bombardier's decisions to sell the
CSeries
The Airbus A220 is a family of five-abreast narrow-body airliners by Airbus Canada Limited Partnership. It was originally designed by Bombardier and had two years in service as the Bombardier CSeries.
The program was launched on 13 July 2 ...
to
Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...
and the
Q Series to
Viking Air
Viking Air Ltd. is a manufacturer of aircraft, as well as aircraft parts and systems, based at Victoria International Airport in North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The company produces new versions of the DHC-6 Twin Otter, upgraded ver ...
, the company was looking at "strategic options" to return the CRJ to profitability. Analysts suspected that it may decide to exit the commercial aircraft market altogether and refocus on business aircraft.
On 25 June 2019, a deal to sell the CRJ programme to
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Mo ...
, the parent company of
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation
, abbreviated MITAC, is a Japanese company that develops, produces, sells and supports the Mitsubishi SpaceJet (formerly MRJ) passenger airliners. The manufacturing of the aircraft is carried out by parent company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI ...
which develops the
SpaceJet, was announced. Mitsubishi had a historic interest in the CRJ programme, having sounded out risk-sharing options with Bombardier, and were at one point expected to take a stake in the venture during the 1990s.
["Bombardier gains approval to offer stretched Regional Jet."](_blank)
''Flight International'', 4 September 1996. Bombardier has stopped taking new sales; production of the CRJ will continue at Mirabel until the current order backlog is complete, with final deliveries expected in the second half of 2020. The deal is to include the type certificate for the CRJ series; Bombardier is working with
Transport Canada
Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transporta ...
to separate the CRJ certificate from that of the
Challenger.
Closure of the deal was confirmed on 1 June 2020, with Bombardier's service and support activities transferred to a new Montreal-based company, MHI RJ Aviation Group.
MHI RJ has not renamed the aircraft, and its website refers simply to the CRJ Series.
The final Bombardier CRJ to be produced, a CRJ-900, finished production and was delivered to
SkyWest Airlines on 28 February 2021.
Mitsubishi CRJ
In 2021, Mitsubishi mooted restarting production on the
CRJ-550, a variant of the
CRJ-700
The Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900, and CRJ1000 are a family of regional jet airliners that were designed and manufactured by Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier (formerly Canadair) between 1999 and 2020. Their design was derived from ...
configured in the 50-seat class similar to the nominal seating capacity of the 100/200/440 models. This would involve building a new plant at Mirabel, Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada; as the former plant is now making
Airbus A220
The Airbus A220 is a family of five-abreast narrow-body airliners by Airbus Canada Limited Partnership. It was originally designed by Bombardier and had two years in service as the Bombardier CSeries.
The program was launched on 13 July ...
s; and taking the tooling out of storage. Possible future production of new built 700 and 900 series as well.
[ ]
Specifications
References
External links
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