Regional jet

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For short range passenger aircraft known as regional aircraft, see Regional airliner.

The term Regional jet, or RJ, describes a range of short-haul turbofan powered aircraft, whose use throughout the world expanded after the advent of Airline Deregulation in the United States in 1978.

Regional jet airliners are not a new concept in aviation. Aeroflot, for example, used Yakolev Yak-40 regional sized mini-jet airliners for decades when its airline functioned as a state controlled national directive.

Large 70-100 passenger short haul regional aircraft in the western world have existed for years too, when National "Flag carrier airlines" began ordering the free world's first true purpose built short-haul airliner, the Sud Aviation Caravelle, a twin turbojet airliner designed for use upon inter-European routes. To speed manufacturing, the Caravelle used the forward fuselage nose section of the de Havilland Comet, the free west's first large scale commercial jetliner which was not as effective in continetal-European flights.

CRJ200ER of Air Nostrum the regional affiliate of Iberia
CRJ200ER of Air Nostrum the regional affiliate of Iberia

Contents

[edit] Historical foundations promoting the
development of regional jet airliner equipment

Simply classifying all short haul jet airliners as regional airliners is not historically accurate for the epochs of aviation transcend such simple explanation.

Many of the following post World War II airliners where often used on shorter and economically significant prestige routes such as London-Paris, or New York-Chicago, by the world's airlines which have collectively been described in the past as; "flag airlines," "Big Four airlines," "Big Six airlines," "major airlines," and "trunk airlines.

With the arrival of coach travel, which blossomed during the post World War II years, larger airlines non-jet equipment soon migrated toward the "trunk airlines," "minor airlines," "feeder airlines" and "commuter airlines" throughout international air lanes and sky ways.

Polish government Yak-40 at the Polish Aviation Museum
Polish government Yak-40 at the Polish Aviation Museum

In the post war era many aircraft manufacturers sought to create a replacement aircraft for the "ubiquitous" Douglas DC-3, first with large 40-50 passenger sized Convair 340's and Martin 202's, and later with turboprop powered aircraft like the Fokker F-27.

These earlier large 50 passenger aircraft had begun to trickle down to the larger trunk and minor airlines, which were used on shorter range regional routes that had become their forte, especially in the U.S. Smaller "mini-airliners" soon found niches regionally in the 1960's when aircraft manufacturers such as the British made Shorts Skyvan, Brazilian Embraer EMB 114 Bandirante, and French Nord 262, all sought to capture the lower end of the DC-3 replacement market.

In the 1970s, the market for smaller sized mini-airliners boomed with the process of route liberalization in the U.S known as Airline Deregulation went into force in 1978. Airline passengers in the U.S accustomed to flying larger jet aircraft and even the smaller "trickled down" short haul propeller motivated and equipped "propliners", with features such as aircraft lavatorys and air hostesses, were taken aback when aboard "puddle jumpers" with neither.

Through free market forces, airlines and aircraft manufacturers rapidly replaced these "puddle jumpers" with larger amenity equipped, turboprop "mini airliners," generally flown by regionally based smaller airlines to feed larger airlines' hub cities. The same market forces also allowed these "mini airliners" to be rapidly supplanted by faster longer range, first generation turbofan powered regional jets (as the first generation Bombardier CRJ became known), differentiating them from prior generation equipment.

[edit] List of RJs

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Bombardier Aerospace Canadair Regional Jet
derived from a stretch of the Canadair Challenger 600 bizjet
  • ACAC ARJ21 - 70-seater class and first class as 38 seats and economy 32 seats
  • Canadair CRJ-100 - 50-seater class that started the boom
  • Canadair CRJ-200 - updated 50-seater class
  • Canadair CRJ-700 - 70-seater class stretch of 50-seater
  • Canadair CRJ-900 - 90-seater class stretch of 70-seater
  • Canadair CRJ-1000 - 100-seater class stretch of 90-seater
Embraer ERJ-145 family
derived from re-engining the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia turboprop
  • Embraer EMB-145 - 50-seater class turbojet EMB-120
  • Embraer EMB-140 - 40-seater class shrink of the 50-seater
  • Embraer EMB-135 - 30-seater class shrink of the 40-seater
Embraer E-Jets
Bombardier Aerospace C-Series
under development
Fairchild-Dornier 728 family
cancelled
Sukhoi Russian Regional Jet (RRJ)
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries MRJ
  • Mitsubishi MRJ-70
  • Mitsubishi MRJ-90

[edit] Development of short range airliners

The following is a list of civilian airliners including regional airliners by historical epoch, of aircraft with significant build numbers which preceded and set the course for the transition to, and rapid adoption of regional jet aircraft among the smaller airliners. Included are regional jet airliners and other aircraft with limited build numbers but highly significant technological features

[edit] Short haul civilian aircraft post war

[edit] Post World War II Civilian Airliners Prior to the "Jet Age" (None Long Range)

[edit] Post Korean War Short Haul Civilian Airliners

Mohawk F-27
Mohawk F-27

[edit] Post-war civilian short-haul "mini" Airliners

Beechcraft B-99 Airliner
Beechcraft B-99 Airliner

(Including the first "regional jets")

[edit] Short-haul civilian "mini airliners"

(circa the 1978 free enterprise liberalization and "RJ" revolution)

[edit] Aircraft pre-1978 U.S deregulation

Embraer EMB-110 der Air Rarotonga
Embraer EMB-110 der Air Rarotonga

[edit] Aircraft post-1978 U.S deregulation

[edit] Regional turboprop airliners

Dash 8 of Air Southwest on landing
Dash 8 of Air Southwest on landing

[edit] Recent, operating, or proposed regional jet airliners

Fokker 70 KLM
Fokker 70 KLM

[edit] Recent, operating, or proposed short-haul airliners

An Embraer 170 short haul regional jet airliner in the rather bland eurowhite aircraft livery of Cirrus Airlines
An Embraer 170 short haul regional jet airliner in the rather bland eurowhite aircraft livery of Cirrus Airlines
A Model Of A Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet airliner.
A Model Of A Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet airliner.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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