>>1932567It was not even COVID that killed the MRJ off, they just tried to introduce an airliner into an already saturated market, as a nation who has not made an airliner since the 1960s.
Embraer had the Americas and Japan under control with the E jets, Bombardier/Airbus now have North America and Korea with their C Series, Sukhoi has the CIS and COMAC has China. Larger regional aircraft have no purpose operating in Europe, though, Embraer and Bombardier/Airbus both have a solid share and African nations have no interest in new regional aircraft.
In other words, the market was saturated, even if regionally sectionalized and not even Japanese airlines really "needed" the MRJ. Even though ANA ordered a number of MRJ aircraft, they were too small for a larger Japanese carrier (JAL, ANA, Skymark) to operate regionally, where it is not unusual for 737s and A320s to operate many of the routes and 767s to fly major intercity routes, like between Tokyo, Osaka and Chubu. So really, the order was more to support the Japanese aircraft industry (not unlike China's ARJ-21 and C919 ordering strategy).
The MRJ was too large for island routes too, which were better suited for Dash 8 Q400 and ATR-42/72-600 turboprops, which are more efficient on short haul routes. The only place an aircraft his size truly made sense for a Japanese mainline carrier was for services on Hokkaido, which has enough traffic for some 737 services on top of standard Dash 8 and ATR services.
On the other hand, low cost carriers could make do with the MRJ, but most carriers have fairly new fleets, since most of the airlines were formed to fill the spots left after a large merger in the 2000s (JAL and TDA), plus they also operate larger A320s and 737s, with the exception of Fuji Dream, who flies E-jets. They did sign a letter of intent, but never placed a firm order, so no funding.
Ultimately, a lack of interest is what killed off the MRJ.
Excuse the autist post.
