Mitsubishis MRJ i skikkelig trouble - Curt Lewis

Nine senior Mitsubishi Aircraft execs are on their way out after latest MRJ delays
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. of America Chairman and CEO Masao Yamagami and eight other senior executives with the Japanese regional jet program are leaving the company.

Mitsubishi Aircraft described the departures as retirements. They come two months after Nagaoya, Japan-based Mitsubishi announced the fifth in a series of embarrassing delays associated with the Mitsubishi regional jet program.

Masao Yamagami is the chairman and CEO of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. America Inc., overseeing flight testing of the MRJ jet in Moses Lake.

The latest delay, which was announced in late January, means the 70- to 90-seat MRJ won't be delivered to launch customer All Nippon Airways until 2020, a full two years later than was expected.

Several MRJ aircraft are being flight tested in eastern Washington to secure FAA certifications. Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee and Japan's ambassador to the U.S., Kenichiro Sasae, are visiting the Moses Lake test facility Thursday.

Yamagami, who discussed the MRJ program's trials and tribulations during a PSBJ Interview in December, retires as leader of the Mitsubishi Aircraft U.S. affiliate on March 31.

Though retired, Yamagami will continue to act as a senior corporate advisor, supporting the company's sales and marketing efforts, Mitsiubishi Aircraft of America spokesman Jeff Dronen said.

Takeshi Wakai, the vice president of quality assurance, is also retiring, along with Peter Turner, the deputy head of Mitsubishi Aircraft's customer support division, and senior executive vice presidents Shigefumi Tatsumi and Akihiko Ishikawa.

Yamagami told the Business Journal late last year( before the latest delays became known) that the test flights at Moses Lake were going very well after the company tapped Boeing's Puget Sound-region engineering talent to help smooth out some wrinkles.

Aviation Week and Space Technology Magazine featured "The MRJ Mess" as its cover story in February.

The departures of Yamagami and the other executives are the first signs of major internal change since Mitsubishi Heavy Industries CEO Shunichi Miyanaga announced in February he was getting involved in the airplane affiliate by personally chairing a committee which now oversees the MRJ jet effort.

Two MRJ aircraft were flying test flights above Hawaii and over the Great Lakes Wednesday, according to Puget Sound area aviation enthusiast Isaac Alexander, who is tracking the aircraft on his @jetcitystar Twitter account. One of the MRJ planes had been grounded in Hawaii since March 16, due to hydraulics problems, Alexander said.

Mitsubishi Aircraft has 447 orders for the MRJ plane, including options and purchase rights.