Mitsubishi and Trans States Holdings have announced that the parties cancelled the contract for up to 100 Mitsubishi SpaceJet M90 aircraft. The agreement, which was finalized in 2011, included 50 firm orders with 50 options.
Trans States Holdings owns the three US regional airlines Compass Airlines, GoJet Airlines and Trans States Airlines. The carriers operate Bombardier and Embraer regional aircraft on flights for Delta Connection, American Eagle and United Express.
Hisakazu Mizutani, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation President, commented on the order cancellation: “When we established our contract with [Trans States Holdings], the outlook on the regional market was very different. Scope clause has not relaxed as anticipated.” Both parties came to the conclusion, that the SpaceJet M90 variant does not meet the requirements of the United States market. Instead, the aircraft manufacturer announced that it will begin discussions regarding a potential order for the SpaceJet M100.
The development of the M100 aircraft (formerly known as the Mitsubishi Regional Jet MRJ70) and the new branding as ‘SpaceJet’ were presented during the Paris Air Show 2019. In order to meet the requirements for US market, the M100 jet will be equipped with 76-seat, which is the seating limit for most regional aircraft under the airline’s existing scope-clauses. Earlier this year, US regional carrier Mesa Airlines announced plans to commence negotiations for a potential order of up to 100 Mitsubishi SpaceJet M100 aircraft.
Nick Wenzel founded International Flight Network in 2016. He is the Social Media Manager and an Editor for IFN.news.
