REGIONAL JET. BIZJET. AND WARRIOR

摘要

Unnoticed by almost everyone except aviation professionals and serious enthusiasts, the jetliner business has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. Lockheed is no longer a player, having delivered its last TriStar in August 1984. Aerospatiale/Sud, BAC/Vickers, de Havilland/Hawker Siddeley, Douglas/McDonnell Douglas and Fokker are now names from the past. Today Airbus, an effective amalgam of several manufacturers, has taken the lead. Stalwart Boeing struggles in second position and newcomers Bombardier and Embraer have moved into third and fourth places. Who would have guessed in the mid-1980s that Canadian and Brazilian companies would reach such exalted positions? In the case of Canada, those with a good memory will remember that the Avro Canada C-102 Jetliner was the world's second jetliner prototype to fly, doing so on August 10, 1949. However, nearly 42 years went by before the first flight of the next Canadian jetliner, the Canadair CRJ. Embraer became a notable contender in the light transport field when its 19-seat, twin-turboprop, unpressurised EMB-110 commuter airliner entered service in April 1973. However, that aircraft, was small and its name ― Bandeirante, meaning 'flag-bearer' in Brazilian Portuguese ―was difficult for most Anglo-Saxons to pronounce, which resulted in Embraer's first commercial liner being rather unflatteringly nicknamed 'Bandit' in the United States. This did not prevent Embraer from achieving a notable success―no fewer than 500 Bandeirantes had been built, mostly for third level/regional airlines, when production ended in 1990. Following the lifting of regulatory restrictions on the number of seats and take-off weight of commuter aircraft in the US, Embraer developed a new aircraft―the 30-seat, pressurised EMB-120 Brasilia―and once again achieved much success while establishing a solid base, among third level/regional carriers, particularly in the all-important American market. Thus, in March 1989 when Canadair stepped in with its regional jetliner, Embraer had to respond to the Canadian challenge. Unfortunately, the previously government-controlled Brazilian manufacturer (the government then owned nearly 64% of the voting shares) was in the midst of being privatised. Facing financial uncertainty, Embraer was initially unable to move as aggressively as it would have liked.