Regional jet

A regional jet (RJ) is a jet-powered regional airliner usually defined by having less than 100 seats. The first aircraft considered part of this category was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by the more widespread Douglas DC-9, BAC One-Eleven, Yakovlev Yak-40, Fokker F28, and BAe 146. The 1990s saw the emergence of the Canadair Regional Jet and Embraer Regional Jet families, followed by the larger Embraer E-Jet and multiple competing projects. This time period also saw the bankruptcy of Fokker in 1996 and departure of BAE Systems from the market in 2001, significantly reducing the number of RJ manufacturers.

Market consolidation continued as Bombardier Aviation sold its airliner programs between 2017 and 2019, leaving Embraer as the sole large independent regional jet manufacturer with its Embraer E-Jet E2 family. Comac of China introduced the C909 (at the time ARJ21) jet to fill China's missing regional industry since the retirement of the DC-9. Antonov of Ukraine was producing the Antonov An-148 until a fatal crash, Saratov Airlines Flight 703, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine halted its production. Lastly Sukhoi of Russia created the Sukhoi Superjet 100, although production has slowed down since the war in Ukraine.