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Feature: Reasons to be cheerful
08 March 2010
The manufacturers proposing the next generation of regional aircraft are confident in the market. Geoff Hearn looks at whether their optimism is well founded.
The dominance of Airbus and Boeing in the commercial aircraft market has long been established and effectively has been unchallenged since the exit of McDonnell Douglas. This status quo is in strong contrast to the changing landscape for regional aircraft manufacturers, which is characterized by recurring attempts to enter the market and regular failures to stay the course.
There has been more stability in recent years with Bombardier, Embraer and ATR performing relatively successfully, but even they have had their share of difficulties.
The regional market is certainly not particularly encouraging at the moment. The 50-seat jet category is in particularly bad shape. The demise of Mesa Air Group in the US has resulted in a clutch of regional jets being added to the increasing fleet of parked aircraft. The view of many in the industry is that the market for these aircraft is unlikely to recover significantly.
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