Mrj 70/90
 

Any of our brethren over at Skywest or Trans States have any idea or speculation as to what's going to go down with the MRJ orders. It's highly doubtful that mainline pilots will relax scope and the deliveries are set to start in the next couple of years. I think personally they should be flown by mainline, the less jumbo RJ's the better. Thoughts?

http://atwonline.com/blog/will-scope-clause-issue-muddle-mitsubishi-regional-jet-s-service-entry

Sell the orders to mainline?
Mgt hopes and preys scope is relaxed to allow larger aircraft in the coming years? Hopefully that's just a far-fetched pipe dream that will never come to fruition for all our sakes
Operate them independently?
Who the heck really knows. I don't even think our mgt nor TSA's really do either.

The Embraer 175-E2 (Why not E-275?) will also face weight/scope issues.
Skywest and TSH have a fair few on order too.

Hopefully these along with the MRJs will be the first 76-90 seat aircraft flying around without "Express," "Connection" or "Eagle" next to the titles.

Nobody knows what will happen to the MRJ. Mitsubishi's crowning achievement was the 1999 mitsubishi eclipse. Right now, the MRJ 90's getting certified without the wings falling off sometime this decade seems like a dubious prospect.

TSH has the option of turning their order into 70s. (I've also heard the same about turning E2's into 175 orders) So that's a backup plan to the scope issue. Also, they can sell or lease the aircraft or sell the delivery slots to mainline. And while I would hope relaxing scope wouldn't happen in this climate, money is king, and the major airline pilots wouldn't hesitate to sell us farther down the river for the right price.

Will sushi be served on board?

He asks the important questions in life lol

There's only a few things that can happen with the MRJ90. The big three can relax the weight restriction on scope or the regionals can convert the orders to the MRJ70 (replacing older CRJ7s). Can the MAGTOW be certified differently (lower) in the US? I can't answer that question and am unsure if they would require new testing. There's absolutely no appetite at mainline for relaxing scope as far as overall additional airplanes or relaxing the 76 seat number. However, I could see them relaxing the MAGTOW number slightly if the carrot was big enough. The other question is how does the scope choke evolve over the next contracts (starting with Delta). Do they allow more 76 seats in exchange for further reducing smaller jets? If they hold on the large RJ 76 seat jet limitation, the smaller MRJ70 may look more attractive. I don't think the MRJ90 is going to be a good fit at any mainline carrier. I think the new E190 or the small CS would work better.

The same questions apply to the E175E2 which on paper is heavier than the MRJ90 I believe.

Even if scope wasn't an issue at all, why would a regional want to move outside of the ERJ/CRJ paradigm? I believe it is Trans States that has them on order, what was the thinking behind that move?

And Skywest. They are pretty formidable. And it has everything to do with fuel savings since the MRJ and I believe E2 will have geared turbofans.