Jets

The Jets tag on the old Flying Engineer blog held a piece on how Bombardier's C Series came about. It started with the BRJ-X studies and ran through to the 2008 launch of the C Series.

From the CRJ to a larger aircraft

Bombardier sold 935 CRJ 100 and 200 aircraft. That success led it to study bigger aircraft of around 100 seats. A 1998 study showed a need for larger aircraft in regional fleets. Bombardier believed that if regional fleets stayed at 50 seats or fewer, the number of 50 seaters needed would quadruple. It saw a gap between its 50 to 70 seat CRJ line and the smallest Airbus and Boeing single aisle jets, the A318 and the 737-600, which carry about 120 passengers in one class.

At Farnborough in 1998, Bombardier showed the 88 seat BRJ-X-90 and the 110 seat BRJ-X-110. BRJ stood for Bombardier Regional Jet. Airlines liked the BRJ-X-110 as a true 100 seater, unlike the scaled down large jets from Airbus and Boeing. The drawings looked like the new Embraer jets, but with a wider cabin and five abreast seating.

Setbacks and a restart

• Late 1999: pressure from Embraer and from Fairchild-Dornier led Bombardier to drop the BRJ-X-90 for the stretched 90 seat CRJ 900. Airlines had said a simple stretch of the CRJ 700 would meet their needs at lower cost.
• Mid 2000: the BRJ-X-90 was killed and the BRJ program suspended, but never cancelled.
• March 2004: the 114 seat Embraer 190 made its first flight. In July, Bombardier announced the C Series as the replacement for the BRJ-X: a 125 seat CS110 and a 145 seat CS130.
• Early 2006: with few orders, and after the Embraer 190 was certified in 2005, the program was shelved and the focus went to a 100 seat CRJ1000.
• July 2006: EASA certified the 124 seat Embraer 195.
• Early 2007: work on the C Series restarted. In July 2008 it was launched, with a letter of interest from Lufthansa for 60 aircraft and 30 options.

Where the numbers stood

As of 30 June 2013, the CRJ 700, 900 and 1000 together had 723 orders, with 91 unfulfilled. The Embraer E-170/175 and 190/195 families had 1,213 firm orders, with 266 unfulfilled. Bombardier had to stop trailing Embraer, and the clean sheet C Series was its way out. This section came from a much larger article on the C Series.