NAGOYA, Japan (AP) – At a tightly guarded factory in central Japan, Mitsubishi, a maker of the Zero fighter planes of World War II, is launching its MRJ regional jet and aiming to fulfill Japan’s long-cherished ambitions to regain status as a major aviation power.
The company said Friday that a recent decision to push back the jet’s maiden flight from this spring to a few months later would not delay its commercial deliveries. Workers were conducting hydraulic and other tests on two of the test jets in a cavernous assembly facility; another jet had been sent out for painting.
Nobuo Kishi, a vice president of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., said the latest delay could speed things along because it is intended to allow for modifications that otherwise would be needed later.
“We don’t see the change in the test flight as a delay, but as an improvement,” Kishi told visiting reporters. “We want to continue the test flights without interrupting them for modifications.”
Still, company executives are emphatic about their determination and urgency to get the job done.