Jul 12 2012

Chorus Aviation Orders Six Bombardier DHC-8Q-400 NextGen Aircraft

chorus logoBombardier announced today that Chorus Aviation Inc., the parent company of Jazz Air, has ordered six DHC-8Q-400 NextGen aircraft. This will be the conversion of six of the 15 options taken by the airline with its original order for 15 Q400 NextGen airliners previously announced on April 30, 2010. The aircraft will be painted and operated under Air Canada Express colours.

The airline recently took delivery of their 15th Q400, which is also the 400th Q400 series aircraft built. Jazz Air is the world’s largest operator of Dash 8/Q-Series aircraft. The airline’s current fleet includes 80 Dash 8/Q-Series turboprops and 51 Canadian Regional Jets. Jazz is the second largest airline in Canada in terms of fleet size and number of routes flown.

Including the Chorus Aviation order, Bombardier has firm orders for 434 Q400 and Q400 NextGen airliners and the aircraft are in service with approximately 40 operators in 30 countries on six continents. DHC-8Q-400s have transported more than 177 million passengers and have flown more than 3.2 million flight hours and have made over 3.5 million take-offs and landings.

As part of this announcement, nine CRJ-200s will be removed from the Jazz Air fleet. These are likely to be the high-time aircraft in Chorus’ fleet, which originally were purchased by Air Canada and operated as part of its mainline fleet until the creation of Jazz Air and their transfer.

Additionally, the London Ontario maintenance base operated by Jazz Air will be closed sometime during the summer of 2013. Historically, this base was the home of Air Ontario which was merged into the Jazz Air group in the past. This closure will result in the loss of one heavy maintenance line for the airline and a number of layoffs, expected to be about 200 employees.  This will leave Jazz with one heavy maintenance base in Halifax.

The six Q400 planes are slated for delivery at a rate of two per month in February, March and April 2013. The CRJs will be removed from the fleet between December 2012 and May 2013, reducing the total fleet to 122 aircraft.

Jul 12 2012

Skywest places order for 100 Mitsubishi Regional Jets

skywest logoMitsubishi Aircraft announced today the signing of an agreement in principal with SkyWest Airlines. The deal provides for the airline to purchase 100 Mitsubishi Regional Jets (MRJ), deliveries of which are planned to begin in 2017 and conclude by the end of 2020. A firm agreement is expected according to reports within the next several weeks.

SkyWest’s 100-aircraft tentative order for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet is for the MRJ90, the larger of the two versions Skywest also has the option to convert all or part of the order to the smaller MRJ70 as well.

This sale, valued at $4.2 billion at list prices, means that Mitsubishi’s orders and commitments for the MRJ program have increased to 230 airframes.

SkyWest is currently the largest operator of Bombardier regional jets in the world and this agreement is seen as a set back for Bombardier’s CSeries program.

The MRJ is scheduled to make its first flight in late 2013. Mitsubishi has been working to reassure potential customers about the plane after a one-year delay and is targeting airlines in North America and Asia as sales in Europe decline.

Utah-based SkyWest is a holding company for SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines and operates as United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines and US Airways. It operates a fleet of 725 regional aircraft.

Jul 11 2012

Defunct Pluna CRJs up for sale

Pluna LogoIt has been announced by the government of Uruguay, that it is planning to auction off the CRJ900s that were once operated by the county’s national airline Pluna SA. It also announced that a search is on, as an alternative option, to find a group willing to acquire the planes, hire the company’s employees and re-establish the airline.

The Uruguayan transport ministry may provide financing if jobs are saved and debts owing by the bankrupt carrier to the state are honored, according to a draft bill currently being drafted and is expected to be passed sometime this week.

Expectations are that the auction of the CRJs will be completed within sixty days.

Canadian investment group Chorus Aviation Inc. paid $15 million in 2010 for a one-third stake in the holding company that owns 75% of Pluna’s shares, with the Uruguayan government owning the remaining 25%. Pluna flew to Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay. It also operated flights to Spain and Miami through partnerships with Iberia and American Airlines.

The aircraft involved in this situation are thirteen CRJ-900LRs:

        • CX-CRA          MSN 15165
        • CX-CRB          MSN 15169
        • CX-CRC          MSN 15175
        • CX-CRD          MSN 15180
        • CX-CRE          MSN 15185
        • CX-CRF          MSN 15204
        • CX-CRG          MSN 15209
        • CX-CRH          MSN 15233
        • CX-CRI          MSN 15234
        • CX-CRK          MSN 15239
        • CX-CRL          MSN 15273
        • CX-CRM          MSN 15274
        • CX-CRN          MSN 15275

All are currently, as of this date, stored at Montevideo Carrasco airport in Uruguay.

Jul 11 2012

Embraer backlog of orders lowest in six years

Embraer LogoEmbraer announced today that its backlog of firm orders for its aircraft offerings had dropped to the lowest level in six years during the second-quarter of 2012.

The current backlog of firm orders is $12.9 billion, down from $15.8 billion in 2011. However, deliveries of aircraft increased during the same period. Embraer delivered 55 aircraft during the second quarter of 2012 which brought the total deliveries so far in 2012 to 89 aircraft. In detail, Embraer delivered 35 commercial aircraft and 20 executive jets during the first quarter, according to a regulatory filing the company made.

Comparing with statistics from 2011, the second quarter of that year saw deliveries of 25 commercial aircraft and 23 executive jets. In the first quarter of 2012, the company delivered 34 aircraft,  21 commercial and 13 executive.