TOKYO — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will scale back its plan to mass-produce the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, the first domestically made passenger plane, from the initial target of 10 planes a month in 2020 to just about one plane a month in the same year, it has been learned.
The revision comes after the developer decided to further postpone delivery of the passenger jet. A delay to the planned start of mass production will likely deal a blow to domestic parts makers and others involved.
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., an MHI unit based in Toyoyama, Aichi Prefecture, has already informed major parts makers in Japan and overseas, according to sources.
In the previous plan, the aim was to gradually expand production of the MRJ, targeting about two planes a month by the end of 2017 and three to four by the end of the following year. However, MHI has decided to delay mass production of the MRJ because the first delivery of the aircraft has been pushed back once again by about two years to mid-2020.
Under the new plan, no MRJs will be manufactured in 2018 – production will commence the following year. No date has been set for when they will achieve a monthly target of 10 MRJs, the sources said.
Many companies that produce parts for the MRJ have expanded factories and increased employee numbers to meet the original schedule for the jet’s mass production.
MHI will add two more prototype planes to its test fleet under the new plan, bringing the total number to seven, according to sources.
(c) 2017, The Japan News/Yomiuri ยท No Author
