Michimasa Fujino began working on Honda Motor Co. (7267)’s aviation project 27 years ago at a hangar in Mississippi. Next year, Fujino, now president of the aircraft unit, says the project may finally get off the ground.
If so, Tokyo-based Honda would become the first newcomer to get U.S. approval in the $21 billion business-jet market since 2006. That would pit the carmaker against market leadersTextron Inc. (TXT)’s Cessna and Brazil’s Embraer SA (EMBR3), who have fended off threats from companies such as Bill Gates-backed Eclipse Aviation, which sought bankruptcy protection five years ago.
Though delivery of the HondaJet hasn’t started, Fujino said he has clinched two to three years of orders for the $4.5 million plane and signaled the business will turn profitable before the end of the decade. The seven-seater plane, which Fujino calls a “flying sports car” or “flying Acura,” will be 15 percent more fuel efficient, have roomier cabin space and fly 10 percent faster than comparable aircraft, he said.
Skeptics abound.
“There are no newcomers to business aviation, only cautionary tales,” said George Tsopeis, vice president at Montreal-based Zenith Jet, an aviation advisory firm. “If Honda manages to bring the HondaJet to market, that alone will be an accomplishment.”
Aviator Glasses
Wearing aviator-style prescription glasses, Fujino said he expects the unconventionally designed jet -- the engines are on top of the wings -- to get clearance from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration by next year.
He has said that before. Honda has delayed the debut of the plane every year since targeting deliveries in 2010 for reasons ranging from difficulties procuring components to parts damage caused by ice. The company says it’s getting closer, in May announcing that its fifth FAA-conforming HondaJet successfully completed its first flight.
To get permission from the FAA, a manufacturer must demonstrate that the plane meets U.S. regulations on everything from the strength of the wings to how it lands in a crosswind. Most of the process is conducted behind closed doors because the test data and designs supplied by aircraft manufacturers are considered proprietary and confidential.
Certification is a “long and arduous process” that typically involves testing four to five aircraft for 2,000 flight hours, Tsopeis said. Once a company gets the nod from the FAA, it becomes easier to win certification from other aviation jurisdictions, he said.
Founder’s Dream
The FAA doesn’t comment on pending aircraft certification, it said in an e-mailed statement. Representatives at Cessna and Embraer didn’t respond to e-mails seeking comment.
The start of deliveries would fulfill the wishes of the company’s late founder, Soichiro Honda, who died in 1991. Though the carmaker doesn’t expect the business to be a big profit contributor, it has pursued the project partly as a tribute to the founder, Chairman Fumihiko Ike said in an interview this month.
In the fiscal year ended March, automobiles and motorcyclesaccounted for 92 percent of Honda’s revenue and 73 percent of operating profit.
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