Posted on Friday, 08-January-2010 at 0:03 GMT.
Related Categories: Comfort and Health, Service

Many of you have flown on regional jets (RJs) made by Canada's Bombardier and Brazil's Embraer. Though most passengers prefer jet travel over turbo-props for short flights, many travelers find the RJs confining and a bit thin-seated for longer journeys. Now the two companies are making their planes fly farther and are building them bigger. At least one of these companies may be building planes big enough to get the attention of the giants of aircraft manufacturing, Boeing and Airbus.

Aviation Daily reports that Bombardier may be working on a 150-seat variant of its CSeries jets, though the manufacturer has not made such intentions public. The largest aircraft for Bombardier is the 130-seat model (CS300) scheduled to enter service in 2013. Even speculation of a 150-seat aircraft by a company other than Boeing or Airbus raises speculation about the future dominance of the manufacturing giants. It will surely take a great deal of aircraft sales to make a dent in the numbers of A320 and 737 aircraft in the skies but with the emerging industries in China and Russia building aircraft at least that size, the industry giants are not staying put. Both are looking at new engine options for the A320 and 737 series to make them attractive and economical for potential buyers. Standing by is Brazil's Embraer which, according to the report, is keeping a close watch.

Are you eager to fly new aircraft? Does it make a difference to you who manufactures the airplane you fly in? The Airbus and Boeing names are ones we've grown to trust, so how do you feel about larger aircraft being built by companies that typically build smaller planes, or companies that have only recently entered the aircraft manufacturing business?
Have your say: