I highly doubt that we'll ever see the CSeries fly at a regional. Bombardier has carefully been developing this aircraft from a fresh sheet, using the latest technologies, such as composite wings, the GTF, and the best aerodynamics possible for a transonic aircraft. It is optimized to fill a niche between the E195 and the smallest Airbuses and Boeings, replacing DC-9's, MD-80's, Fokker 100's, and perhaps 737's and A318/19's at some airlines. None of these aircraft have ever been flown at a regional in the U.S.

I'm actually a little surprised that Swiss will be using the CS100 to replace their Avro RJ100's, but it really does make sense, since it will have a slightly larger capacity, much better fuel efficiency, and the necessary performance to get in and out of London City and some of the more demanding airports in the Alps. Keep in mind too that for Swiss, the Avro RJ100 was flown as a mainline aircraft, not for a subsidiary.

I'm really excited that this will almost certainly fly since the Lufthansa deal is firm now. Hopefully the GTF's won't have too many teething problems.

Here are a couple of the latest computer generated images, as it should appear in production form with its composite wing and GTF's.










More info, included a bunch of pictures and specs, can be found on Bombardier's website for the CSeries.