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http://www.janes.com/extracts/extract/jawa/jawa0324.html FAIRCHILD DORNIER 528, 728 AND 928 (Germany), AIRCRAFT - FIXED-WING - CIVIL

Publication date Jul 26, 2005

Programme Baseline 728 regional jet airliner initially designated X28JET, then 728JET; JET suffix discontinued in late 2001. Design study, to Lufthansa requirements, announced at the Dubai Air Show in October 1997; launched at ILA Berlin Aerospace Show 19 May 1998 in five-abreast configuration; General Electric CF34 engine selection announced 3 August 1998; baseline configuration frozen December 1999; first metal cut by SABCA (Belgium) on 18 September 2000; design freeze December 2000; assembly of first three fuselages began in February 2001; final assembly began October 2001; prototype 728-100 (TAC 1/D-AEVA) rolled out 21 March 2002; five aircraft (four test aircraft, TACs, and the first production machine) to fly 1,800-hour test programme, mostly at Granada, Spain, but also in Germany and USA, complementing 'iron bird' engineering rig, which commissioned in November 2000 and completed 210,000 cycles in the initial fatigue test phase by June 2001; initial 10-flight test programme for fly-by-wire FCS completed in first quarter of 2001 using Veridian Flight Research Group's Learjet 25 configured to reproduce stability and control characteristics of 728. Company's financial problems forced suspension of test programme, and 728 remained unflown in February 2003. Service entry of 728-100 with launch customer Lufthansa originally planned for July 2003. Fairchild Dornier stopped marketing the 728-100 in March 2002 and intended from 2004 to concentrate manufacturing on the 728-200. Initial production target (all versions) 100 per year, with potential to increase to 120 per year by 2005. Following transfer of the programme to D'Long, subsidiary Fairchild Dornier Aeroindustries, work recommenced in

http://www.aiaa.org/aerospace/Article.cfm?issuetocid=215 Good article with Fairchild Dornier information and 728 info Aerospace America June 2002 AIAA American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Fairchild Dornier: Phoenix into ashes. by Richard Aboulafia

In short, Fairchild and Embraer pursued the European regional market because today it is the only truly open market for large regional jets. (earlier comment about US scope clauses)

Both manufacturers bet that it is just a matter of time before the North American RJ market opens up, and both have relied on a European launch order to put them in position to attack this market.

Unfortunately, the gamble does not appear to be paying off. Three years after the two new RJ families were launched, they had zero North American market penetration, except for some speculative orders from General Electric Capital Aviation Services’ (GECAS) leasing unit. While Bombardier has received some North American orders for its CRJ-700 and -900, these have been somewhat constrained. The recent AMR Eagle union compromise deal threatens anything larger than that airline’s modest 25 CRJ-700 orders.

Meanwhile, the RJ market also stalled at 70 seats. Aside from a token number of 928s and ERJ-190s, there has been no breakthrough in either the U.S. or Europe in the 90/100-seat segment. This left Fairchild Dornier with the costs of developing a family of planes, only one model of which had any kind of immediate sales prospects.

Development of the 728 was to cost $800 million, with an additional $150 million for each of the two other variants.

In late April 1999 Lufthansa City Line placed the 728 launch order. The carrier signed for 60 firm and 60 option planes, worth up to $1.6 billion. Deliveries were to begin in July 2003. Even more promising, in December 1999 Fairchild was purchased by Allianz Capital Partners, a German insurer, and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a New York buyout firm.

But its purpose in life as a new entity was to create a new family of large regional jets, the 528/728/928. This was a tremendously ambitious undertaking. It made all of their previous programs, the Metro turboprop and the 328 and 328JET regional aircraft, look insignificant.

This has, in short, been a high-cost venture. Fairchild Dornier bet that passenger comfort would sell the plane, which is never a good bet in this industry. Unlike Embraer and Bombardier, the 728 series uses a fuselage with 3-2 seating, one seat wider than the typical 2-2 arrangement. This is roomier, but it costs more to fly through the air than the narrower configuration. It also rendered the 50-seat 528 version a nonstarter (it would have resembled a winged beer can).

Nothing else about the company was low cost, either. Fairchild Dornier decided to keep a lot of production work in Germany, never known as a country with low manufacturing costs. It quickly acquired lots of talent, presumably at considerable expense.

While the schedule has slipped by some months, and development costs predictably have grown, the company has made tangible progress. On March 21, the first 728 prototype was rolled out, with a maiden flight imminent.

But until insolvency was declared, the company was burning cash at the rate of $50 million a month. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Allianz have provided over $400 million. About $90 million in additional bridge financing may be provided by a consortium of German banks. By some accounts this will go a long way toward fully certifying the 728, clearing the way for deliveries (and revenues). However, new aircraft program costs typically increase quickly in the certification and first production phases, and the real costs might be considerably higher.

Yet neither Clayton, Dubilier & Rice nor Allianz is known for its shallow pockets. Perhaps the most disconcerting aspect of Fairchild Dornier’s move to seek bankruptcy protection is that it implies hopelessness. It suggests that the two investors greatly underestimated the cost of developing the new jets, and greatly overestimated the likelihood of finding a buyer. Indeed, it suggests that they have been searching unsuccessfully for a strategic investor for quite some time, and while they have the cash to continue funding Fairchild Dornier on their own, they simply do not want to throw good money after bad. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Archtransit (talk • contribs) 22:39, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

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