I saw all the locked troll jb22 threads you replied to today about "mainline".
You hate it. Haha.

 

Yea sure mainline guys not pulling the ladder from underneath them. That will be the day. There's about 0 care for the regional guys, from national and down.

 

Wouldn't us pulling the ladder up be taking raises here and letting the 190 types go to the regionals?

 

Yes, it would. The big issue though is now NAI. Years of not caring what happened to pilots outside the legacy bubble has created a precedence that no one gives a damn about the labor movement, and will allow for flag of convenience to propagate throughout the USA. Some of these regionals left out in the cold, and with LCC's, will partner with these carriers for massive growth. It would not surprise me if Wall Street did an LBO on one of the big three to piece it off to a larger growth potential carrier like an international LCC. All it takes is one massive 200+ widebody order from Boeing, and us USA work rule pilots will be out on the street, and our government won't give a damn.

 

Scope on the top and bottom. NAI is a huge threat. I would love nothing more than to see the big three go after NAI.

 

The short answer is they are waiting patiently.

SkyWest, Trans States continue waiting out MRJ delays | Airframes content from ATWOnline

Mitsubishi effed up. They built the plane, THEN worried about the scope clauses. I guess they figured that problem would be solved by the time they got the plane finished.

Mitsubishi Aircraft CEO Hopes Airlines Will Relax Some Restrictions | MRO content from Aviation Week

SkyWest has 100 orders plus 100 options, so it seems to me this is their CRJ replacement. The planes are approaching 20 years, I read somewhere. So it's time. Trans has 50 on order.

I've followed the MRJ with interest because a) I'm a sucker for an underdog and b) I'm also a Japanophile and it's great to see them making planes. Japanese quality is rarely ever questioned, even if Mitsubishi is learning as it goes since it never built a plane.

It's a major parts supplier to Boeing, however, and has said it will not build bigger planes so as not to compete with Boeing. Boeing is returning the favor by helping with testing. Some time this year, 4 MRJ prototypes will somehow make their way to Moses Lake, WA, where Boeing will assist Mitsubishi with the plane's 2500 hours of testing. They got a challenge getting a 1700 nm range plane from Japan to Washington.

I've watched several test flights of the MRJ on YouTube and a few things stick out: 1) she's real quiet, 2) that plane just glides into the air, 3) the pilot windows are YUGE, as Trump would say, and 4) they never reverse thrust on landing. The telltale sign of engine cowlings sliding open doesn't happen, they just use brakes. Here's a recent video of a test flight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcS2II3Md_E

I really hope they can get a plane to Farnborough because they need the positive press. In the mean time, Japan has to work out travel through Russian airspace to get the MRJs to Washington, and apparently Japan and Russia aren't getting along right now.

Mitsubishi?s head-scratcher in quest to get jet to the U.S.?The Asahi Shimbun

Hope this helps.

 

Three developments: they put the second test bird in the air, they have begun building the smaller MRJ70, and they are shipping 4 test planes to Moses Lake next month.

Mitsubishi starts production of smaller MRJ test model - The Japan News

Mitsubishi Regional Jet to begin test flights in July- Nikkei Asian Review

 

Finally a smart decision on their part. If its true that deliveries of the 70 seat version will begin in 2019, that is very good news for trans states. But I'll believe it when they actually start showing up.

 

Perhaps more accurately, they never built an airliner. Mitsubishi built lots of military aircraft including the Zero. More recent examples are the MU-2, and the Hawker 400 is an evolution on the MU-300 Diamond.

I agree about the Japanese quality part. Well, except for airbags...

 

When will the regional airlines just tell the majors to go f themselves and just do the flying on their own, I mean with these jets they are almost getting to the national level as is it is...