News
MRJ delays force All Nippon Airways to rethink fleet
April 13th 2017
New All Nippon Airways (ANA) CEO, Yuji Hirako, had to make an urgent decision when he took office on April 1 as he pondered what to do about ANA’s orders for the delayed Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ)? Read More »
The ANA Holdings veteran said he did not want to cancel the order altogether, but he had to rethink ANA’s fleet planning to bridge the capacity shortage caused by the MRJ delays. "We have shortages because of the delayed delivery of the MRJ," Hirako said. He decided to source two B737-800s each from BOC Aviation and SMBC Aviation Capital. The four B737s will be delivered in 2018.
ANA Holdings president, Shinya Katanozaka, previously said its regional ANA Wings subsidiary would purchase three additional Bombardier Q400s and also push back the retirement of older B737-500s to offset MRJ delays.
The MRJ, which is being built by a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has been delayed for another two years because of an essential redesign to its wiring, with its first delivery is scheduled for 2020.
ANA has 15 MRJ90s on firm order and ten options. Japan Airlines (JAL) has ordered for 32 MRJ90s from 2021. ANA has 36 B737-800s and seven -700s in its short-haul fleet. ANA Wings has 17 B737-500s and 21 Bombardier Q400s.
