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[aircraft certification] in the third or

fourth quarter of2012,

with entry-intoservice late in the fourth quarter 01'

early first-quarter 2013," he adds. PIP2includes increased blade lengtb in thefront fan, as weH as the addition of an extr a stage to the low-pressure turbine and

compressor. This will also incorporatethe fuel nozzles on the combustor anda refined fan frame to 'Iincrease airfiowthrough the booster," says Fitzgerald.The package includes aerodynamic enhancements to the autlet guide vane sealthrough the application of a piston ring.

Ground lesting for ETOPS clearanceofthe baseline GEnx-lB is also close tocompletion; final tasks were wrapped upin April, and the engine was tarn downand inspected. Although ETOPS ftighttests remain to be accomplished on oneof the two GEnx-lB-powered 787s inBoeing's te st fleet, hopes are high that

tbe 330-min. ETOPS approval will begranted on sehedule in August.

Certification was accomplished inNovember 2010 of the initial Block 4stan dard GEnx-lB that will power thefirst 20 or so GE-powered 7878 until the

service entry of the first PIPI engines in2012. Final groul1d icing tests were com

pleted in February. TheGE 787s are 80%through Boeing tests and 70% throughFAA/EASA eertifieation, whieh is likelyto be eompleted by the end of June. Withalmost 800 flight hours and 270 eyelesracked up, the first ai1'craft is on track fordelivery to JAL in Oetober. "

Gven the competition and consoH

dation within the regional airlineindustry and volatile fuel costs,

regional carriers are seeking ever more

efflcient flying, leading aircraft manufacturers and engine makers to rethink

options for regionals in the near future.While it seems operators want larger

regional jets and turboprops, thcre are

still differing opinions about the needforthe mid-market 50-seat jet and continuedinterest in the much smaller end of thespectrum, such as a 19-seater.

For all of the talk at Ihe RegionalAirline Association's 36th Annual Conference he1'e last week of resurgence

of turboprops and the desire for one inthe gO-seat or large1' range, nD manufac-

Bombardler Is conslderlng a bigger version of

its Q400 and will be deliverlng the first in a

two-class conflguratlon thls summer

turer has committed to building such anaireraft. And the market for a new-teehnology airplane in the 20-50-seat rangeessentially has been abandoned.

Eut that is not stopping Pratt & Whitney Canada f1'om working on an enginedesign for a gO-seatel'. Richard Dussault,vice president of marketing far Pratt

Canada, says because high fuel costs are

cutting into profits in short-haul markets,the company is devising a new 5,000-7,000-shp engine for larger turbopropsthat could go to market in three years.

"We believe that's the power für

.c6mpressor,"an.t!Wilino! inciude an)! Producti6hofthebaseHrie ·213 iS

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. Jielldds thalthe.engihEiis[n<licating .. bptiohbf u ~ ~ d e i 1 g i ~ e s to f ~ r f Y tneir•.· . · ~ l j ~ I \ ~ ~ : ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ : n J : ~ v ~ r t ; ~ , OhJlhtiJSt. ;. b e t t ~ r perforl1l11nCere{entlbr1.tfianpte. airGraft \ocompletion.centers f o r b t i t ~ .o viouspoWerpl,fnts, M ~ a s u l " d i n t e l m s f i t t i n g s o theycanbeassuredofthe .

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AviationWeek.com/awst

t ~ r e o v e l tne fif5t1;000 cycles,the befare begiriningservice.swith the

GEnx<21367has showna riseof6.ßG, . $300 million personalizedjets. Called

60mparedwith the"8-11Clypicalofa .. the GEf'usher Programithe.bptionis··GE90-i15S: Triis!s "t!ributed to the· planned .föl thefirstfive.'BBJsand lll

englne's·sh6ltel,s!iffer archi tecturelows BBJ eustomers tö use GEhx-2Bs. Bi> w e l l ~ s t o i t n P r o v e d a e . r ö d y n a m i c s trom flight;testalrMift o r a l e ~ s e p o o l .aM advancedmalerials; . . ' .... " ather than.new,eng·ines . O

AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY!MAY 23,2011 23

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the next generation of aircraft," saysDussault. "If we launched next year for

a customer, these ar e three-to-four-year

pro grams, so around 2016 to 2017 fit

would] enter into service because it v.rill

be a brand-new core, so a brand-new de

velopment." Dussault says it is a natural

evolution for turboprops, and "if [a larger

turboprop] were available tomorrow, the

airlines would go for it/'GE Aviation agrees and may develop

an engine to power the 70-100-seat turbo

props. Chuck Nugent, general manager

for regional and business aviation, says

GE has developed a concept for a next

generation turboprop engine, called the

CPX38, which could be adapted from the

military GE38 by 2016 if demand arises.

But da the operators want them?"There is a lot of talk about needing some

new aircraft at the regional level," says

Chip Childs, president and chief operat

ing officer of SkyWest Airlines, a subsid-

iary of SkyWest, the largest regional air

line holding company in the U.S. SkyWest

Airlines flies mostly RJ s bu t also has 45

3D-seat Embraer 120 turboprops. "We

would love to see about a 50-seat turbo

prop" vrith big new engines, he says.

Thc turboprop market is in the midst

ofa resurgence, as fuel prices are enhanc

ing the appeal of more fuel-efficient, ifslower, turboprops on shart-haul routes.

Nl'R forecasts 3,100 new turboprops

with 30 seats 01' more will be deliveredworldwide in the next 20 years, mostly

larger versions, says John Moore, head

of sales for the French-Italian company.

ATR foresees demand for 1,000 turbo

props of more than 90 seats and 1,600

with 61-90 seats in that time period. In

total, ATH believes turboprops will ac

count for 40% of regional aircraft eleliv

eries in 2011-30. Bombarclier forceasts

41% of deliveries of 20-99-seater s will be

turboprops, with la rger models favorecl.

But there is still a lot of 30-seat flying

PROPULSION

in North America, says Saab AircraftLeasing President Michael Magnusson.

Mike Ambrose, director general ofthe European Regions Airline Associa

tiOll, says jets have stabilized at 55% of

the regional carrier fleet on the Continent. Nonetheless, ATR is not commit

ting to building an aircraft bigger than

its 74-seat ATR 72, nor is Bombardier

committing to anything bigger than its

80-seat Q400.

ATR remains focused on it s new -600

series for the ATR 42 and 72, which it ex

pects will be certified this month. They

have about 50 and 70 se ats, respectively,

in a single class and featu re a new avion

ics suite and a roornier and more stylish

interior. ATR is pitching two-class 42s

and 72s for the U.S. market, with 40 and

60 seats, respectively.

Bombardier is proceeding on that

front, toD, slated to BQaU deliver its first

Q400 in a two-class configuration, the

first of many deliveries this summer ta

an unideritified current Q400 customer.

rrhe airframer says it can retrofit Q400s

into the two-class configuration, with 64

seats in coach anel seven in first class. It

also says other customers are interested.

Both manufacturers, however, ar e

hesitating on creating larger aircraft.

Moore says executives at KrR "do feel

the market exists, bu t we're still working

to validate and verifY that with airlines,"

as well as deterrnining what engine manufacturers Can deliver-and when.

Bombardier's vice president of m a r ~ keting, Philippe Poutissou, says his com

pany is in the best position to offer a

large!' turboprop, since its Q400 already

is the biggest in the market and could be

stretched, bu t his company needs to as

sess the size of the potential market and

the competition. There is demand, "but

it's probably not big enough for more

chan a couple ofplayers," Poutis sou says.

Any airline launching a new fleet type, he

24 AVIATION "'WEE}( & SPACE 'l'BCHNOLOGY/MAY 23,2011

notes, probably will have to order at least

10 aircraft to attain the critical mass re

quired to make the fleet efficient enough

to be worth their while.

Aircraft manufacturers and engine

makers also have to consider differenc

es between countries' regional aircraft

needs. In the U.S., for example, scope

clauses in pilot union contracts forbid

most major carriers from contracting

with regional airlines to operate 9 0 ~ s e a t aircraft on the major's behalf; absent

scope clause relief, a regional carrier

would have to be willing to fly the aircraft

independently. The other barrier in the

U.S. market is psychologieal: consumers

essentially abandoned the turboprop in

favor ofthe regional jet.

In Europe, however, customers never

abandoned turboprops. And when it

comes to size, Lufthansa will not even

talk to regionals about aircraft with fewer

than 70 seats, Ambrose says.GE sees growth for the RJs with it s

CF34-1O engines, especially for those

with more than 100 seats that it can pow

er with its lOE from Latin America and

China. "Looking at market demograph

ics, growth rates are definitely higher in

Latin America and Asia than in North

America 01' Europe," Nugent says. "But

the size ofthe fleets is definitely large r inNorth America and Europe."

On the je t sidp-, Rombardier's 100-seat

CRJIOOO went into service about five

months ago; Brit Air of France has placed

firm orders for 14 an d Air Nostrum ofSpain has ordered 35. It is also market

ing its 1 0 0 - 1 4 9 ~ s e a t CSeries.

Mitsubishi Regional Je t is "seriously

considering" a model with 100 01' more

seats and has talked to several potential

customers about it, says Executive Vice

President Junichi Miyakawa. Mitsubishi

is studying when 01' if it willlaunch the

jet, pending board approval, though first

delivery of an MRJ is not slated untH All

Nippon Airways receives one in 2014.

Sukhoi delivered its first Super jet 100

in April in a 98-seat configuration, anel

it might unveil the concept for a largerversion next mouth.

Embraer's E ~ J e t family, which has 70-

122 seats in one class and 70-106 seats in

two classes, is popular: 1,000 have been

ordered, 719 delivered anel 705 ar e on

option. But Embraer is undecided on its

next step. I t could re-engine them: Paulo

Cesar de Souza e Silva, airline mal'ket

executive vice president, says Embraer

is talking to manufacturers about engine

options. But it will not da so if it decides

to build a new 130-150-seatjet. Cl

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