American Airlines and Bombardier have a “reveal” today at DFW. Still sporting a “C” registration, the delivery of the first CRJ900 (with 5.5% better fuel burn) has not yet occurred. The airplane is being shown off to DFW-based American Airlines people today before a flight to Dayton for more of the same. Actual delivery is set for early June.
Speaking with American’s Kenji Hashimoto, SVP Regional Carriers, he stressed the “fit and finish” of the aircraft was impressive. The new cabin is attractive and the premium seating allows for revenue optimization. He also noted the improved fuel burn was a key factor in selecting the CRJ. A look at the engine on the aircraft pictured shows the new design of the tail end which does not have the chevrons as found on the earlier models. Bombardier has plans to improve the fuel burn even more, with a near 10% improvement over the original CRJ900 within the next two years.
Mr. Hashimoto pointed out that American has bought both the ERJ and CRJ. This mimics the airline’s selection of the Airbus A320 family and the Boeing 747MAX. American is such a large carrier that its fleet needs are greater than any one OEM can supply.
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I still don’t get from where the 5.5% is coming from. Is there any mod to the engine? Because from external views, there is nothing new to the CRJs while in the Ejets we can easily spot the new winglet.
BBD has updated the engine; they talk about a new cone. See our video below of the briefing with Kevin Smith at RAA.
Thanks Addison. From Kevin Smith’s speech, the 5.5% is composed by 4% from original CRJ to NextGen, plus 1.5% from engine exhausting nozzle. So, if E-175 and CRJ900 NextGen had basically the same consumption, the E-175 enhanced is 6.4% better and the CRJ900 is now 1.5% better, does it mean that there is 4-5% gap between the two models now?
There are wing mods as well, CRJ had substantial advantage over ERJ in fuel burn due to less weight and smalled fuse cross section, that advantage is a bit smaller now, but I am pretty sure CRJ has better fuel burn than ERJ. When ERJ has the GTF, I think they will have a small lead.
If I understood correctly from Kevin Smith, the wing mods were inserted when the original CRJ became NextGen. From the orders and reports of operations in US, both models were very competitive before the recent improvements and now it seems E-175 has some advantage. The GTF is promising double digit improvements in fuel burn. Maybe, Bombardier should consider re-enging CRJs too.