Fairchild Aerospace 728JET

Type (Muster)
70-seat regional jet (Regionalverkehrsflugzeug)

Country (Land)
Deutschland / USA

Manufacturer (Hersteller)
Fairchild Aerospace
PO Box 1103
82230 Wessling
Germany

Phone: 49-8153/30-0
Fax: 49-8153/30-4454

General (Allgemeine Angaben)
Crew (Besatzung): 2
Passengers (Passagiere): 70 in standard configuration, five-abreast, at 32 in seat pitch. Also, a stretched 90-seater (928JET) and a smaller 55-seater (528JET) are offered.
Baggage (Gepäck): 28,2 cu m

Power plant (Antrieb): 2 x General Electric CF34-8D1
Thrust (Schub): 2 x 55,55 kN (12500 lbs)

Dimensions (Abmessungen)
Length (Länge): 26,31 m
Height (Höhe): 9,04 m
Span (Spannweite): 26,62 m
Wing area (Flügelfläche): 75 sq m
Wing sweep (Flügelpfeilung): 23, 5 degrees
Wing aspect ratio (Flügelstreckung): 9,48

Cabin length (Kabinenlänge): 16,89 m
Cabin width (Kabinenbreite): 3,25 m
Cabin height (Kabinenhöhe): 2,05 m

Weights (Massen)
Operating empty weight (Leermasse): 20435 kg
Max. payload (Nutzlast): 8215 kg
Fuel capacity (Kraftstoff): 9600 kg
Max. zero fuel weight (max. Masse ohne Kraftstoff): 28650 kg
Max. take-off weigth (max. Startmasse): 35766 kg or 37500 kg
Max. landing weight (max. Landemasse): 3520 kg

Performance (Flugleistungen)
Max. cruise speed (max. Reisegeschwindigkeit): Mach 0.81 / 467 KTAS (864 km/h) at 37000 ft
Ceiling (Dienstgipfelhöhe): 37000 ft
Take-off field length (Startstrecke): 1540 m (5050 ft) at ISA, sea level, maximum take-off weight
Landing field length (Landestrecke): 1420 m (4660 ft) at ISA, sea level, maximum landing weight
Range (Reichweite): 1700 NM or 2300 NM in extended range version

Customers (Kunden)
Currently, there is just three confirmed customers for the 728JET and the Envoy 7 business jet derivative:

Lufthansa has signed a contract for 60 firm 728JETs on April 29, 1999, valued at approximately $1.6 billion. The airline also has taken options for 60 additional aircraft. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2002. Aircraft will be operated by CityLine.
Flight Options, a US fractional ownership company, announced at the Paris Air Show in June 1999 that it will buy 25 Envoy 7 business jets in a deal valued at more than 760 million US-Dollars.
Safadi, a holding group basid in Lebanon, signed a letter of intent for an Envoy 7 on November 12, 1999. Delivery is scheduled for 2003.

There are other airlines which at one time or another have indicated an interest in the 528/728/928JET family. Among them are:

Crossair was interested in 60 plus 60 options, but at the Paris Air Show in June 1999, it announced a decision to go for the Embraer ERJ-170 family
Eurowings has said in the spring of 1998 that it wants to place an initial order for 30, subject to approval by the supervisory board. No recent news.
Proteus Airlines of France, according to a press release in May 1998, "has made an inital order for 15", but nothing more was heard on this

According to Fairchild Aerospace market studies, there is a demand for 2265 regional jets with 70 to 90 seats and 2966 with 50 and less seats over the period 2001 - 2014.

Cost (Preis)
Lufthansa order would equate to 26 million US-Dollars per aircraft. That is much more than the target unit "list" price of 20 million US-Dollars that was quoted at the Berlin air show in May 1998, after even lower figures were talked about in the previous months.
The Envoy 7 business jet version of the 728JET was quoted at 39,5 million US-dollars in June 1999.
Development cost is now estimated at 1,2 billion US-Dollars to cover the 528JET/728JET/928JET, much more than at first thought.

Competition (Konkurrenz)
Bombardier Canadair CRJ Series 700
Embraer ERJ-170

Remarks (Bemerkungen)
At the Dubai air show in November 1997, Fairchild Dornier revealed that it is studying a completely new 70-seat regional jet. This seemed to supercede plans to stretch the 328JET to 50 seats, though this option has been taken up as well with the 428JET. Design work on the 728JET actually started in July 1997.
Lufthansa CityLine and Crossair were heavily involved in the refinement of the aircraft and "have indicated their wish to become launch customers". On the basis of this interest, the programme was launched at the Berlin air show in May 1998. In the following weeks, there was a management shake-up at the company.
On August 3, 1998, the selection of the CF34 engine was announced, as the "low risk" option against the competing Snecma/Pratt & Whitney Canada SPW14.
A month later, on 9 September, Fairchild Aerospace also revealed a bunch of major suppliers, including

CASA (wing and empennage)
Honeywell (Primus Epic avionics)
BF Goodrich (landing gear and fuel system)
Lucas Aerospace (flight controls)
AlliedSignal (APU)
Allied NGL (environmental control system)
Parker Aerospace (hydraulics)
Sundstrand (electrical system)

By the end of 1998, Lufthansa CityLine and Crossair had failed to firm up their interest. Further complications arised through talks initiated by ATR, which was seeking an easy entry into the regional jet market rather than starting to develop its own AirJet. Roumours had it that ATR was talking to both Fairchild and Embraer and was pushing for a resolution by the spring of 1999. Talks with Fairchild at last apparently broke down over disputes of systems suppliers and final assembly location.
Lufhansa finally consented to become launch customer for the Fairchild Aerospace 727JET on April 29, 1999 after supervisory board approval. A setback followed in June, when Crossair switched to Embraer for its regional jet needs.
During the summer and autumn of 1999, Fairchild Aerospace was desperately seeking new funds to carry its programmes forward, with reports suggesting that the company at times was close to insolvency. A 350 million US-Dollar bond offer had to be aborted amid weakening financial markets.
Finally, on 28 December 1999, a deal was struck with a team of Allianz Capital Partners (Munich) and US investment group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. Subject to review by regulatory authorities, they will take nearly 100 per cent of Fairchild Aerospace for just 20 million US-Dollars and then bring in 400 million US-Dollars of fresh cash. Another 800 million US-Dollars will come from a consortium of German commercial banks and other institutions, partly backed by state loan guarantees. According to CD&R, this will be enough to carry the programmes through.
Meanwhile, Fairchild said it would start the aircraft level ciritical design review (CDR) of the 728JET in late November 1999. "Completion of the individual system level CDR's, expected by the end of the first quarter of 2000, will result in a highly-defined aircraft configuration, at which time production of prototype aircraft will begin", it was stated.
According to Fairchild Aerospace plans dating from mid-1998, a first flight was anticipated in the first quarter of 2000, but this has now slipped more than a year to March 2001. Consequently, deliveries will not begin in mid-2001, but in May 2002. The 928JET model could follow in November 2003, while the 528JET is not expected in service until the end of 2004.

Last updated 28. December 1999

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