Until this Canadian Regional Jet-CRJ-by Bombardier came to the market around 1991, short regional routes were dominated by the more fuel-efficient turbo-prop aircraft. These included Bombardier’s 37-seat Dash 8-100/200 series.
While they were very economical, turbo-props had their downside. They were slow, noisy and restricted in range! Bombardier addressed this by launching the CRJ series.
Starting with the 50 seat CRJ 100/200 in 1991, Bombardier brought a jet that could deliver turbo-prop economics on regional routes. The market embraced the new kid on the block, resulting into what would turn out to be one of the most successful aircraft programmes in aviation history.
Bombardier sold more than 1,500 CRJs across its different iterations. As the CRJ soared, airlines demanded more. They wanted more range and capacity.
Bombardier responded by stretching the airframe first to the CRJ700, then 900, and ultimately the CRJ1000. Happy with the performance of the CRJ, airlines demanded more capacity with the same or better economics.
But the CRJ could not be stretched further. At a length of 39 metres and 104 passengers, it had reached its maximum viable technical limit in that configuration.
Make it longer and you would need to design new landing gear to avoid tail strikes on take-offs or require longer runways for shallow angle of attack take-offs. That would be a killer. Aircraft sell better if they can work within existing infrastructure-runways and airport gates.
That is why Airbus opted for more wheels on its A380 so that the aircraft would be able to land and take off even at Entebbe.
The cost of stretching the CRJ would be closer to that of developing a new aircraft from scratch. Bombardier took the bold step to grow from regional into narrowbody territory; developing the first all-new single-aisle narrowbody since the A320 in the early 1980s-the Bombardier C- Series.
The C-Series came in two models-the CS100 and 300. The CS 100 could seat 106 passengers in a two-class configuration and 135 in coach seating. Its larger sibling, the CS300, could seat 130pax in two classes and 160 in coach.
This came with a 15pc advantage in fuel burn compared to comparable products from Airbus and Boeing. But development costs proved fatal. Bombardier went for a different design philosophy that proved technically challenging.
The programme chalked up significant cost overruns. It came to a point where the Canadian Province of Quebec, which was a shareholder, could no longer pump in money without raising serious issues.
Meanwhile, sales were slow as airlines were not sure about Bombardier’s capacity to deliver on its promise with the C-series. The company was headed for bankruptcy.
Bombardier sold a controlling stake in its C-Series aircraft programme to Airbus in July 2018 for a symbolic CAD$1. Specifically, Airbus acquired a 50.01 percent majority stake in the C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership (CSALP).
Bombardier retained a 34 percent stake, and Investissement Québec held the remaining 16 percent. Later, Bombardier sold its remaining stake to Airbus and Investissement Québec in 2020 for $591m (Shs2 trillion), effectively exiting the commercial aviation business.
About the same time, Bombardier sold the CRJ programme to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2020 for $550m (Shs1.9 trillion).
Mitsubishi, which had struggled with the development and certification of its own Mitsubishi Regional Jet MRJ, was basically buying the IP for the CRJ and the maintenance and after-market support business for the CRJ.
It hoped that the CRJs after sales support network would also improve sales prospects for its own in developing MRJ. Bombardier retreated to its business jet division where its Bombardier Global Express continues to set speed records.
Ultimately, Mitsubishi abandoned its own MRJ SPACE JET programme in 2023 because growth in travel demand means the major airlines and potential customers in big markets such as the US have opted for bigger jets even on regional routes.
American and Delta have opted for the C-series, renamed the A220 by Airbus. Brazil’s Embraer is now unchallenged in the regional jet market, but even it has had to develop bigger jets. The CRJs Uganda Airlines bought are some of the youngest on the market because they were among the last 50 off the CRJ assembly line.
At the time of ordering, because Bombardier was eager for new orders and the programme had matured, they gave Uganda huge price concessions, much to the annoyance of bureaucrats in the Works and Finance ministries.