Mitsubishi Aircraft announced today that Trans States Holdings, one of the manufacturer’s few customers, has cancelled its SpaceJet order.
The company had the larger SpaceJet M90 – which is not compliant with scope clauses in U.S. airline pilot contracts – on order.
Trans States Holdings Cancels Order of Up to 100 SpaceJets
Trans States Holdings, the holding company of three U.S. regional airlines including Compass Airlines, GoJet Airlines, and Trans States Airlines, was the second – and the first non-Japanese – company to order Mitsubishi Aircraft’s regional jet.
It ordered up to 100 SpaceJet M90s (back then MRJ90s) – including 50 firm orders and 50 options – with the hope of scope clauses in the contracts between the mainline airlines and their pilots being eased.
That did not happen, however, and so, regional affiliates of the three major US airlies are limited to operating aircraft with up to 76 seats and a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of up to 86,000 pounds.
With a capacity of up to 92 passengers and a MTOW of 94,358 pounds, the M90 meets neither of the two criteria which is the main reason for the order’s cancellation.
The program’s years of delay had likely made it easier for Trans States Holdings to negotiate the cancellation with Mitsubishi Aircraft. In fact, just a few days ago, reports of the sixth delay of the program emerged.
That said, Mitsubishi Aircraft is not losing all hope stating that it will continue talks with Trans States Holdings about a potential order of the smaller, scope clause-compliant SpaceJet M100.
Mitsubishi Aircraft’s SpaceJet Order Book
With Trans State Airlines’ cancellation, Mitsubishi Aircraft is left with five customers for the larger M90:
- AeroLease Aviation
- ANA All Nippon Airways
- JAL Japan Airlines
- Rockton AB
- SkyWest
SkyWest, just like Trans States Holdings, mainly operates as a regional affiliate of the three major carriers. That puts it in the same situation in regards to the scope clauses making the future of the largest M90 order to date (100 firm, 100 options) uncertain.
Mitsubishi Aircraft lost two other M90 customers – Eastern Air Lines and Air Mandalay – when the airlines went out of business.
As for the smaller M100, Mesa Airlines signed an MoU for 50 airframes with options for further 50 back in September 2019. This is the latest potential SpaceJet order and, at this point, is the manufacturer’s only realistic gateway into the United States market.
Summary
Considering that the scope clauses were not eased as expected, this cancellation doesn’t come as a surprise. At the same time, it comes as a major blow to Mitsubishi Aircraft which likely hoped Trans States Holdings would convert its order into the scope-compliant M100.
The best that the manufacturer can hope for at this time is that Mesa Airlines’ order will go through as planned, that Trans States Holdings will order the M100s down the road, and that SkyWest will not cancel its order – a move that would wipe out almost half of the manufacturer’s order book.
Personally, as a half-Japanese, I really hope Mitsubishi Aircraft will overcome the development delays and become a successful regional jet. It’s too early to tell whether that will happen or not, though.
