Inexperience among suppliers and regulators, an engineering shortage and in some cases common cultural practices among Chinese bureaucracies all likely share some of the blame for the latest delay on the Comac C919. The director of an expert committee advising China’s cabinet on the program, Zhang Yanzhong, revealed recently that first flight of the C919, already delayed earlier this year by about nine months, now will not take place until the end of 2015 (Aviation Daily, Aug. 8).

Development of the massively delayed Comac ARJ21 is now looking stable and on track for its latest target for airworthiness certification, June 2014, say industry officials familiar with the program. Comac is aiming at completing flight-testing by the end of the year, leaving six months for further certification work. “There seem to be no major problems,” says one official. Another, agreeing, says the development schedule has been realistic since last year, when the 2014 target was set.

Japan Airlines’ retirement of its 747 fleet, once the world’s largest, has prompted the Japanese government to bring forward its plan to replace the two 747-400s it uses as official transports. Additional aircraft will be considered for short and medium services, for which the Mitsubishi Aircraft MRJ regional jet is expected be a candidate—and perhaps the reason for the requirement.