I have wondered for some time now why the Sukhoi Superjet 100 hasn’t gotten more attention both in the media as well as from western airlines.  This really isn’t your father’s Soviet airliner.  It isn’t your father’s regional jet either.  This is a regional jet that has gone through design and development and through test with some delays but without too much drama and it’s soon going to fly with an airline.  Aeroflot gets to be the first.

Maybe there is stigma from being a Russian design and maybe there is stigma from being an airliner going into service with a Russian airline first.  There shouldn’t be.  Aeroflot wants just as much efficiency as any other airline in the world. 

At first glance, this airliner might be a touch small for the markets it is entering.  I’m not sure that’s the case.  So far, the Superjet is on target to be about 6% more efficient than the equivalent Embraer and that is no small achievement given that the Embraer E170/190 airliner is pretty new itself.  The Sukhoi actually hits a bit of a sweet spot for US airlines in that it can serve as a regional jet (not a regional jet doing mainline long thin routes) and do it with competitive efficiency. 

One area that this program has suffered problems is in the engine.  The PowerJet SaM146 is a partnership between SNECMA and Saturn NPO.  Most of the engine comes from SNECMA who has ample experience in building a well designed engine.  However, production problems at the Saturn NPO plant have slowed deliveries.  This is not anything that hasn’t been experienced by virtually all engine programs.  The real measure is in whether or not they get the problems ironed out and start producing engines that are satisfactorily reliable and in sufficient quantities to meet production demand.

At the least, I think airlines should be taking a strong look at this aircraft.  There are a few detractions or unknowns with this airliner.  If you’re going to bring an airline type into your fleet, its efficiency is certain a big factor and so is size but there are other components not talked about enough.  An airline wants to know that the manufacturer can support the aircraft with maintenance and parts and it wants to know that it can do it where the airline is using that aircraft.  I haven’t been able to find out much about what Sukhoi and its partners are willing to provide in this area but it certainly shouldn’t be too difficult to meet those needs on the European continent initially.  With Boeing as a consultant on this project, I wonder if Boeing couldn’t be engaged to support the aircraft in the western hemisphere.

Another component is reliability.  So far, we know this jet has done pretty well in testing and it was designed to meet all western standards for certification.  That does mean both Europe and the United States.  But how that aircraft actually performs when in use by an airline day in and day out is still unknown.  If it turns out to have a poor dispatch reliability rate, no one in the west will be interested.  Sukhoi and its partners get one, perhaps two, chances to prove this airliner’s ability to perform day in and day out. 

To persist in the idea that a Russian designed airliner would be inherently wrong to choose is bad.  The Russians have been designing and building strong, reliable jet aircraft for nearly as long as the west.  They have excellent engineers and aeronautical skills.  They do already know how to build a big jet and they are, after all, the only other country with a space program as long and as technically successful as the United States.  In short, they do have a great body of aerospace knowledge and skills.  It’s an aircraft to watch over the next 2 to 3 years.

It’s an airliner that can actually deliver on its promises and be of real use to a variety of airlines.  This stands in stark contrast to those airliners being designed presently in China, the COMAC 919 and ACAC ARJ21.

Filed under: Aircraft Development by ajax