Mitsubishi Aircraft Triggers M90 Management Shakeup

Mitsubishi Aircraft on Monday named 35-year company veteran Yasuhiko Kawaguchi executive chief engineer, effectively replacing chief development officer Alex Bellamy as head of the SpaceJet M90 program as part of a wider reorganization largely precipitated by the Covid-19 crisis. Mitsubishi said Kawaguchi played a “critical role” in U.S.-based flight-test management. The company recently closed its offices in Renton, Washington, and significantly scaled back operations at its engineering and test center in Moses Lake, Washington, after halting flight testing of the M90 and shelving development of the 76-seat M100.

MHI said it would more than halve funding for the SpaceJet as it reported program impairment losses from its recent acquisition of the Bombardier CRJ program and development costs for the 2019 fiscal year totaling ¥263.3 billion ($2.46 billion), compared with total expenditures of ¥85.1 billion in 2018. This year it plans to pare SpaceJet development spending from ¥140.9 billion to ¥60 billion as it addresses Covid-19-related pressures throughout the wider enterprise.

“The company’s priority will be on obtaining type certification for the SpaceJet M90,” Mitsubishi Aircraft said in a statement issued Monday. “To maximize the efficiency of type certification flight tests in the future, this fiscal year Mitsubishi Aircraft will focus on reorganizing, improving the current design at the aircraft-level, and validating data earned by over 3,900 hours of flight test.” Plans now call for the development of the M100, long beset by a series of major delays, to extend into at least 2021, marking the sixth certification postponement for the program.

Under the reorganization, Mitsubishi Aircraft president Takaoki Niwa will continue to manage the overall business of the company. As before, board member Keisuke Masutani will continue to assist with corporate management and fellow board member Hiroyuki Tatsuoka will support the overall development and technology.