Hold on to Corona, Mitsubishi Space Jet

Hold on to Corona, Mitsubishi Space Jet

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced its review of the development plan of Mitsubishi Spacejet at the financial results announcement on May 11. Even though the aviation industry has been hit by the new coronavirus, it is an announcement that the delivery has been postponed six times until now.

 On the other hand, Honda Jet continued to be in 2017 and 2018, and in 2019, the number of sales in the same category was the highest in the world.

 So far, the struggles of the Mitsubishi Spacejet and the success of the Honda Jet have been compared, but it is true that the success of the Honda stands out.

 However, the image that "Mitsubishi has a hard time and Honda has the greatest success in the world", although it seems to be one side, does not correctly reflect the fact.

I want to clarify the actual situation by comparing the current situation of both parties.

Current status of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Space Jet has been in a difficult situation because it has not been able to go on sale due to the delay in obtaining type certification. This time, due to the impact of the aviation recession caused by the spread of new coronavirus infection, it became virtually dormant.

 This dormancy is reasonable at the moment, as it reduces the regime, minimizes monetary bleeding, and looks at the evolution of the Corona Airlines recession.

 However, it is still dormant with various uncertain situations, and it is expected that it will take a considerable amount of time before the start of sales of the Spacejet even after the hibernation is released.

 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has been developing a model called "M90" (formerly MRJ90). It is in this model that the type certification is delayed. However, this time, the No. 10 machine, which should have been able to obtain the type certification, was completed, and development was gradually progressing before this happened at Corona.

 But the M90   had another serious problem. The problem is that even if it is completed, it cannot be sold in North America, which was regarded as a major market.

 The US airlines have a labor-management agreement called Scope Close, and the maximum number of regional jets that can be introduced is 39 tons or less and the number of seats is 76 or less.

 However, the maximum takeoff weight of the M90   is 42.8 tons, which cannot be dealt with simply by reducing the number of seats. Initially, it was expected that this scope close would be eased, but at the moment it has not, and the outlook has changed

Therefore, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries started development of a model with a maximum takeoff weight of 39 tons called "M100" in parallel with M90 from 2019.

 In addition, what is called 70 seats in the press is the M100. ..

 The M100 is not simply a miniaturized version of the M90, but it is aimed at reducing the cargo compartment and reducing the weight by devising the structure of the airframe. The North American version has 76 seats, but if the seats are arranged at the same seat pitch as the M90, 84 seats can be arranged.

tsubishi Heavy Industries seems to have aimed to minimize the sales of the M90   and transfer the manufacturing and sales to the M100 as soon as possible.

 The M90   has not been prepared for mass production. The M90   is a model that cannot be mass-produced both in terms of sales and manufacturing.

 Therefore, the development of the M100 needed to be rushed as well as the development of the M90. However, the development of the M100 has been suspended during the review of the system to enter the dormant state.

 It takes at least 4 to 5 years from the resumption of development to complete the M100. What this means is that space jets will not be produced extensively for at least four to five years after we know the whereabouts of the Corona recession, and we will not make a big profit.

That said, the global aviation industry was hit hard everywhere by the Corona Airlines recession. Boeing, Airbus, and Mitsubishi Spacejet's direct competitor Embraer are no exceptions. While the situation is not visible, MHI's judgment of dormancy may be appropriate.

 Moreover, even if the production of the M90   had risen as originally planned, it would have been in a difficult situation due to the Corona Airlines recession like other companies. It would have been difficult to deliver smoothly with a car whose airline's finances were fired even if it was made.

Honda Jet is the best in the world

While Mitsubishi SpaceJet continues to be lacking, it is widely recognized that HondaJet has been the number one 

seller in the world for the third consecutive year since 2017.

In fact, looking at the figures for 2019, compared to 36 Honda jets sold, 34 Cessna Citation M2 (made by Textron) and 11 Phenom 100 (made by Embraer) are in the same class. Certainly, the number of machines sold in this category is the highest in the world.

 However, the number one Honda jet in the world is quite different from the number one Honda motorcycle in the world.

 Honda is by far the best in the world motorcycle market. One third of the motorcycles produced in the world are made by Honda.

 On the other hand, Honda Jet is not the number one business jet market in the world, but only the number three in the world of ultra-small business jets with a maximum take-off weight of less than 5 tons.

 Honda's rival maker also produces a large number of business jets of other sizes, overwhelming Honda in total volume.

 Embraer, a manufacturer of regional jets and military jets, sold 109 business jets in 2019. The "Phenom 300," which is one class above the Phenom 100 in the same class as the Honda Jet, sells 51 more aircraft than the Honda Jet.