The Bombardier CRJ/Mitsubishi CRJ or CRJ Series (for Canadair Regional Jet) is a family of regional jets introduced in 1991 by Bombardier Aerospace. The CRJ was manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace with the manufacturing of the first CRJ generation, the CRJ100/200 starting in 1991 and the second CRJ generation, the CRJ700 series starting in 1999.
The CRJ programme was acquired by Japanese corporation Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI RJ Aviation Group) in a deal that closed 1 June 2020. Bombardier subsequently completed the assembly of the order backlog on behalf of Mitsubishi.
Bombardier claims it is the most successful family of regional jets in the world.[1] Production ended in December 2020 after 1,945 were built.
The family consists of the following aircraft generations and models/derivatives:
, following Bombardier's decisions to sell the CSeries to Airbus and the Q Series to De Havilland Canada, the company was looking at "strategic options" to return the CRJ to profitability. Analysts suspected that it might decide to exit the commercial aircraft market altogether and refocus on business aircraft.[2] [3] That prediction came to pass on 25 June 2019, when a deal was announced to sell the CRJ programme to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the parent company of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation.[4] Mitsubishi had a historic interest in the CRJ programme, having sounded out risk-sharing options with Bombardier, and were at one point expected to take a stake in its SpaceJet venture during the 1990s.[5] [6] Bombardier ceased new sales and announced that production of the CRJ would continue at Mirabel until the current order backlog was complete.[7] The deal was to include the type certificate for the CRJ series; Bombardier worked with Transport Canada to separate the CRJ certificate from that of the Challenger.[8]
Closure of the deal was confirmed on 1 June 2020, with Bombardier's service and support activities transferred to a new Montreal-based company, MHI RJ Aviation Group.[9] [10] MHI RJ has not renamed the aircraft, and its website referred simply to the CRJ Series.[11] [12]
The final Bombardier CRJ to be produced, a CRJ900, finished production and was delivered to SkyWest Airlines on 28 February 2021.[13]
In 2021, Mitsubishi investigated restarting production on the CRJ550, a variant of the CRJ700 limited to 50 passenger seats, similar to the nominal seating capacity of the 100/200 models. Restarting production would involve building a new plant, as the former plant is now making Airbus A220s, and taking the tooling out of storage. However,, Mitsubishi has not pursued a restart.[14] [15] [16]
| Cockpit crew | Two | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max. seating | 50 | 78 | 90 | 104 | ||
| Length | 87 ft 10 in (26.77 m) | 106 ft 1 in (32.3 m) | 118 ft 11 in (36.2 m) | 128 ft 5 in (39.1 m) | ||
| Height | 20 ft 8 in (6.3 m) | 24 ft 10 in (7.6 m) | 24 ft 7 in (7.5 m) | |||
| Wingspan | 69 ft 6 in (21.21 m) | 76 ft 3 in (23.2 m) | 81 ft 7 in (24.9 m) | 85 ft 11 in (26.2 m) | ||
| Wing Area | 520.4 sq ft (48.35 m2)[21] | 760 sq ft (70.6 m2) | 765 sq ft (71.1 m2) | 833 sq ft (77.4 m2) | ||
| Fuselage diameter | 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m) | |||||
| Maximum takeoff weight | 51,000–53,000 lb (23,133–24,041 kg) | 75,000 lb (34,019 kg) | 84,500 lb (38,330 kg) | 91,800 lb (41,640 kg) | ||
| Operating empty weight | 30,500 lb (13,835 kg) | |||||
| Max. payload | 13,500 lb (6,124 kg) | 18,055 lb (8,190 kg) | 22,590 lb (10,247 kg) | 26,380 lb (11,966 kg) | ||
| Max fuel | 2,135 US gal (8,081 L) < | --2,135 US gal at 6.7 lb/ US gal--> | 19,595 lb (8,888 kg)[22] [23] | 19,450 lb (8,822 kg)[24] | ||
| Engines (2x) | GE CF34-3A1 | GE CF34-3B1 | GE CF34-8C5B1 | GE CF34-8C5 | GE CF34-8C5A1 | |
| Takeoff thrust (2x) | 8,729 lbf (38.84 kN) | 13,790 lbf (61.3 kN) | 14,510 lbf (64.5 kN) | |||
| Cruise | [25] | |||||
| Range | 1,305–1,700 nmi (2,417–3,148 km;) | 1,400 nmi (2,593 km;) | 1,550 nmi (2,871 km;) | 1,650 nmi (3,056 km;) | ||
| Ceiling | 41,000 ft (12,496 m) | |||||
| Takeoff (SL, ISA, MTOW) | 5,800–6,290 ft (1,770–1,920 m) | 5,265 ft (1,605 m) | 5,820 ft (1,770 m) | 6,670 ft (2,030 m) | ||
| Landing (SL, MLW) | 4,850 ft (1,480 m) | 5,040 ft (1,540 m) | 5,360 ft (1,630 m) | 5,740 ft (1,750 m) | ||
| ICAO type[26] | CRJ1 | CRJ2 | CRJ7 | CRJ9 | CRJX | |