Seattle, August 3, 2015 – Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation opened and started full operations of the Seattle Engineering Center (SEC) in Seattle, Washington, an engineering arm of its subsidiary, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation America, Inc. The opening of a development center in Seattle, the global hub of the aviation industry, enables Mitsubishi Aircraft to tap professional expertise on aircraft development and to accelerate the development of the MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet).
Mitsubishi Aircraft held an opening ceremony today to celebrate the opening of the Center. The ceremony was attended by numerous distinguished guests, including Jay Inslee, Washington State Governor; Masahiro Omura, Consul General of Japan in Seattle and Lee Human, President, Aerospace Testing Engineering & Certification L.L.C. (AeroTEC), one of the partner companies of Mitsubishi Aircraft. Present from Mitsubishi Aircraft were Hiromichi Morimoto, President and Kenichiro Honda, Vice President, SEC, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation America.
SEC will work with AeroTEC, which has extensive experience and expertise, to accelerate the MRJ’s conformity activities and provide prompt support for flight tests in the U.S. that are scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2016 based at the Grant County International Airport at Moses Lake in Washington. SEC will be operated with approximately 150 members, including about 100 engineers recruited mainly in Seattle and about 50 engineers from Japan.
“Washington is honored to play a supporting role in the development of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet," said Governor Jay Inslee. "With more than 100 years of history designing and building the greatest commercial airplanes in the world, Washington is the global leader in aerospace. We are thankful to the Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation for its investment in our state and are proud of the assistance we can provide in bringing this important aircraft to the worldwide market."
“From the components that are being provided by our suppliers to the team that will be in the air and on the ground in Moses Lake once flight testing begins to the scores of engineers working in this new Seattle office, the MRJ will have a profound impact on the economy of Washington State,” Inslee added. “We look forward to continuing our support for the MRJ and seeing how our relationship with Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation can grow even further.”
Mitsubishi Aircraft is proud of taking part in the history of the aviation industry in Washington. Going forward, the company will continue devoting its collective resources towards the successful completion of the MRJ project while contributing significantly to the development of the aviation industry.
About MRJ Mitsubishi Regional Jet is a family of 70~90-seat next-generation aircraft featuring the Pratt & Whitney’s revolutionary PurePower® engine and state-of-the-art aerodynamics to drastically reduce fuel consumption, noise, and emissions, while offering top-class operational benefits, an outstanding cabin designed for heightened passenger flying comfort with large overhead bins.
