Divergent conditions in the regional airline business and the business jet realm have conspired to create a potential boon for completion companies involved in converting Bombardier CRJs into executive transports. As most anyone in the airline industry knows, the market environment for regional jets has changed drastically in the past few years, as the major airlines that control the fleets have gradually come to the conclusion they need to address an overcapacity of 50-seaters in particular. And as many in the market for a new business jet have found, the backlog for new airplanes has reached so far into the future that customers of a Boeing Business Jet, for example, might have to wait 10 years to take delivery of an airplane. As a result, values of used business jets have soared, creating the perfect conditions for companies such as Tailwind Capital to take advantage of a potential flood of regional jets perfectly suited to conversion to executive transports.
Exhibiting here at the DeCrane booth (No. 375), Tailwind has unveiled the first of five Bombardier CRJ conversions it plans to sell to business aviation customers. Called the Hemisphere 200XR, the airplane will go to Dutch concern Solidair BV outfitted with a 15-passenger cabin layout and an FAA-certified fuel system that extends range out to 3,000 nm. Purchased from its previous owner by a wholly owned subsidiary of Merrill Lynch, the airplane should be ready for delivery within six weeks, Tailwind president Joel Hussey told EBACE Convention News at the show.
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