Manufacturers Are Jostling for Sales in a Crowded Super-Midsize Market

Bombardier, Cessna, Fairchild, Falcon, Galaxy and Raytheon are competing for upper- or super-midsize jet customers, with Galaxy Aerospace, a partnership of Israel Aircraft Industries now based in Texas, arguably holding rights to the 'pioneer' title for the segment.

Established in 1997, Galaxy Aerospace began deliveries of the Galaxy business jet late last year, after moving into a $12-million, 165,000 square-foot headquarters facility at the Alliance Airport in Dallas-Fort Worth. Galaxy will manufacture a total of 17 of its segment-establishing Galaxy jets this year and 18 next year, predicts the Virginia-based Teal Group.

The $18 million Galaxy can accommodate as many as 18 passengers. It's powered by twin Pratt & Whitney PW306A engines. Range is stated at 3,620 nmi, high speed cruise is 470 knots.

Coming in just under the Galaxy pricewise is Cessna's Citation X, still promoted as the world's fastest business jet, with high-speed cruise of 506 knots or, as the company likes to say, Mach .92. Range is 3,250 nmi.

Cessna is implementing a Citation X block change to be effective with first deliveries in 2002. This will increase Citation X takeoff thrust by 5%, as the aircraft's 6,442 pounds thrust Rolls-Royce AE3007Cs are supplanted by 6,764 pounds thrust AE3007C-1s. The increased power will give Citation X operators access to more-and shorter-runway-airports.

Cessna will offer several Citation X avionics options as standard equipment, including TCAS II, EGPWS, and an emergency locator transmitter. The 100th Citation X was delivered to Townsend Engineering, a Des Moines, IA food processor, late last year.

Fairchild Aerospace is in on the upper-midsize market, even though it has yet to notch a sale of its $14.5 million, 12-passenger Envoy 3. The Envoy 3 has the same airframe as the company's 328JET, of which there are about 40 in service, with several-among them aircraft operated by the Beirut-Based Dogmach Group and Shell Petroleum Development Corp in Nigeria-being operated as corporate shuttles.

Fairchild offers a 'convertible' 328JET for $12.6 million, with an interior that can be changed from a 32-seat to 16-seat VIP configuration in four hours. Michigan's Johnson Controls has one, and Grossmann Air Service, of Vienna, Austria, has ordered another.

Fairchild claims the best short-field performance in its class for the Envoy 3/328JET, as the aircraft can utilize runways just 4,200 feet in length. The aircraft has twin PW306B turbofans from Pratt & Whitney Canada.

Falcon Jet is represented in the super-midsize segment by the Falcon 900EX trijet and the Falcon 2000 twin, priced at $18.2 million and $20.6 million respectively, and each able to seat up to 19 passengers. Falcon is moving to bolster the 2000's attractiveness by offering a new 2000EX model, with the 2000's 'orphan' GE-AlliedSignal (now Honeywell) CFE738 engines replaced by Pratt & Whitney Canada PW308s.

Raytheon Aircraft offers super-midsize jet buyers the Hawker Horizon, priced at $16.283 million, an all-new airplane with interior space maximized by its thinwall composite fuselage. Executive Jet has placed an order for 100. P&WC PW308A engines provide enough power for a long range cruise speed of 484 knots and range of 3,400 nmi. Hawker Horizon deliveries start in 2002.

Bombardier weighs into super-mids with its popular Challenger 604, a $22.5-million widebody airplane, complemented by the new-and much more economical-Continental. Bombardier will produce 39 Challengers this year and 32 next year, says Teal. The Challenger 604 seats as many as 19 passengers and can carry them 4,077 nmi. It has twin CF34-3B engines.

At $14.25 million, Bombardier's Continental business jet gives the Canadian company a position at the lower end of the super-mid market. Bombardier claims about 100 orders for the Continental, including 25 for its own Flexjet fractional ownership plan. The aircraft will have two all-new Honeywell AS907 high bypass ratio turbofan engines yielding range of 3,100 nmi, cruise speed of 451 knots, and hourly operating cost of $770 per hour.

The Continental will come with Rockwell Collins' Pro Line 21 integrated avionics. First flight is slated for mid-2001, with certification in fall 2002. First deliveries are expected in December 2002.

By Rich Piellisch