Building a family

Fairchild Dornier takes the family approach to developing its various regional jet aircraft.

To remain competitive as well as meet the market demands of regional airlines, Fairchild Dornier has adopted the strategy of developing a family of aircraft. The latest series of aircraft under development by the company begins with the 70-passenger 728JET, which is scheduled to enter service in 2003. This aircraft will be followed by the 50-passenger 528JET in 2004 and the 100-passenger 928JET in 2005.

Strong cost competition has forced major airlines to form global alliances so they could achieve control of the regional air transport systems. Airlines now also play an important role in the decision-making processes of regional aircraft manufacturers. They require comfort equivalent to large aircraft standard, the same level of reliability, all-weather capability, and a turn-around time less than 20 min-but at a lower cost than today's turboprops.