Mitsubishis MRJ90 har stadig problemer - Curt Lewis

Mitsubishi forced to delay jet deliveries to middle of 2020

Aircraft seven years behind schedule as worries rise over group's return to aviation

Mitsubishi has been forced to delay deliveries of its regional jet by another two years, highlighting the difficulties in making a commercial aircraft.

A fifth delay means the jet is now seven years behind schedule, raising doubts about whether it can ever be a commercial success.

Customers will not get their hands on the MRJ90 until mid-2020, according to the latest schedule, marking a serious setback for Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation and the broader Japanese aerospace industry.

The MRJ90 is a high-profile national project, aimed at returning the legendary Mitsubishi name to an aviation market Japan was forced to abandon after the second world war, by taking on Embraer and Bombardier in the market for small passenger jets.

"We should have studied harder before development on collecting information and analysing the risks," said Shunichi Miyanaga, chief executive of parent company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, acknowledging the formidable challenge of integrating a million components into a safe and competitive passenger jet.

Mitsubishi said the delay was due to "revisions of certain systems and electrical configurations on the aircraft". According to company officials, it became clear during a review last autumn that the MRJ would not win approval from safety regulators in its current form.