Mitsubishi tests SpaceJet with Japanese-built engine
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald A Mitsubishi SpaceJet sits on the tarmac at the Grant County International Airport in front of a group of parked 737 Maxes. Mitsubishi has four of the
MOSES LAKE — Mitsubishi has successfully made a test flight here of its SpaceJet regional airliner with a Japanese-built engine, according to a company press release.
“This is the first flight with an engine completed in Japan, and represents an important milestone for Mitsubishi Aircraft, our SpaceJet family of aircraft and the further development of the aerospace cluster in Japan,” said Mitsubishi Aircraft President Hisakazu Mizutani.
The first test flight, which took place on Feb. 14, tested a Japanese-assembled version of the Pratt & Whitney PW1200G, a geared turbofan engine designed specifically for the SpaceJet.
Mitsubishi has flown the engine on subsequent flights, the press release said, and has cleared the Japanese-produced version “to join the flight test fleet in the coming weeks.”
Mitsubishi aircraft has four SpaceJet airliners, formerly known as the MRJ, or Mitsubishi Regional Jet, going through flight testing in Moses Lake.
Executives with parent company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have, in the past, said they hope the SpaceJet program will help restart Japan’s civil aerospace program.
“In addition to manufacturing complete aircraft like Mitsubishi Aircraft, the ability to assemble aircraft engines in Japan is very important for the growth of the domestic aircraft industry as well as the development of a reliable supply chain needed to support future aircraft,” said Katsuyuki Shimauchi, president and CEO of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Aero Engines.
In a Feb. 6 presentation of the company’s third-quarter financial results, Mitsubishi executives said the first commercial deliveries of the SpaceJet are not expected until mid-2021 at the earliest, a setback of nine months from the originally forecast delivery date of mid-2020.
Mitsubishi has secured orders for SpaceJet models from several airlines, including All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, and U.S. regional carrier SkyWest, which, with orders for 100 of the planes, is the company’s largest SpaceJet customer.
While still a profitable company, according to its financial results for the third quarter of its 2019 fiscal year, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries posted a loss of 175.3 billion yen ($1.6 billion) on the SpaceJet program, reducing the company’s profit margin from 10 percent for its non-SpaceJet business to 4 percent for the entire company.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.