Honda Aircraft reaffirms Echelon progress following schedule revision

The firm declines to name the supplier driving the delay and says it will soon disclose more details about Echelon’s fuselage-supply arrangement.
Honda Aircraft arrives at this year’s NBAA show with the message that its HA-480 Echelon light-jet development programme remains on track, despite the company last month delaying the type’s projected first delivery until 2031.

The Greensboro, North Carolina airframer, which had previously pegged certification as soon as 2028, last month revealed the delay, which it attributed to unspecified issues involving a unnamed tier-one supplier.

At the same time, questions remain about Honda Aircraft’s plans for sourcing Echelon’s composite fuselages. The firm in 2023 said Spirit AeroSystems would produce those components at a site in Kinston, North Carolina. But Boeing acquired Spirit late last year under a deal that saw Airbus take ownership of the Kinston facility, leaving uncertainty about the status of the Echelon fuselage project.

“Echelon is in full energy,” says Honda Aircraft chief commercial officer Amod Kelkar. “The timeline part – the lead time part – is definitely much more solid now.”

With 2,625nm (4,862km) of range and ability to carry 10 passengers, the clean-sheet Echelon moves Honda decidedly up-market from its 5-7-passenger, 1,547nm-range HA-420 HondaJet Elite II, currently its only product in production.

“The HA-480 has a completely different proposition, with double the seats and 1.7 times the range,” says Kelkar. “I look at it as a super-popular product with charter and fractional ownership [operators].”

The new jet will cruise at 450kt (833 km/h) and at up to 47,000ft. Honda Aircraft has stressed its ability to operate transcontinental US routes.

Honda Aircraft has completed assembling the first Echelon wing structure and has another four in assembly. Source: Honda Aircraft

Power will come from twin FJ44-4C turbofans made by Michigan-based Williams International – a shift for Honda Aircraft, which in partnership with GE Aerospace produces the GE Honda Aero Engines HF-120 turbofans that power the HA-420. Honda Aircraft chose FJ44s – variants of which power other light jets – because developing a new engine for Echelon was impractical.

As with the original HondaJet, Echelon’s turbofans will sit atop its wings, retaining a configuration that has become a Honda Aircraft hallmark and that, according to the company, reduces drag and will help make Echelon 20% more efficient than other comparable light jets.

The HA-480 Honda is entering a crowded segment, stepping up against competitors including Textron Aviation’s Cessna Citation CJ3s and CJ4s, Embraer Phenom 300s and Pilatus PC-24s. Those types have roughly 2,000nm of range.

Honda Aircraft insists Echelon’s capabilities, notably its range, make it stand apart.

“Our goal is to find a niche in that whole light-jet segment, and then try to even bridge some of the midsize range with the light-jet-type of economics,” says Kelkar. “The technology, range and fuel economics are certainly going to be… the main drivers.”

Honda Aircraft revealed the Echelon programme in 2021 and committed to development in 2024. Several years ago it had aimed to begin flight tests in 2026 and to achieve certification in 2028.

On 15 September it disclosed a delay, with first flight now expected in 2028 followed by certification and first delivery in 2031.

“The updated timeline reflects tier-one supplier-related schedule adjustments and ongoing development activities, ensuring the aircraft meets the highest standards of quality and performance,” Honda Aircraft said at the time.

It did not elaborate, and Kelkar declines to provide more detail.

“We cannot share the name” of the supplier driving the delay, he says. “We want to work with all of our suppliers as one team… You’ll never hear anybody from [Honda Aircraft] saying it was this particular supplier.”

At the same time, Kelkar declines to discuss the status of Honda Aircraft’s plans for production of Echelon’s fuselage. The company is “not sharing details” but intends to disclose information “in the coming months… with our supplier”, he says.

Fuselage supplier

While GKN Aerospace produces the HA-420’s carbonfibre fuselage, Honda Aircraft picked Spirit to supply Echelon’s fuselage.

But Spirit and its operations have since splintered. Boeing acquired the firm in December in a bid to address quality problems affecting 737 fuselages supplied by Spirit. Because Spirit also provided numerous components to Airbus, that European airframer took ownership of those assets, including the Kinston site where Spirit was to produce Echelon’s fuselage.

In 2024, ahead of Spirit’s break-up, Kelkar downplayed potential risks to the Echelon programme but said some changes were possible.

Other suppliers include Garmin, which will provide Echelon’s G3000-based avionics, and Aernnova, which will design Echelon’s wing, design and manufacture its flaps, ailerons and spoilers, and manufacturer its empennage.

Reasons for the programme delay aside, the refreshed timeline has given Honda Aircraft more time for development activity that might otherwise have come later. For instance, it has advanced work on a Runway Overrun Awareness and Alerting System. “Now, we are saying… it will be standard on this aircraft,” Kelkar says.

The reset gives him “a really high degree of confidence” the team will meet the revised timeline, Kelkar adds, noting the firm has finalised all major Echelon suppliers and that the “critical design review has been completed for pretty much everything except for interiors”.

Price not set

Honda Aircraft now holds letter of intent from 530 potential customers covering possible future Echelon orders – up from 410 letters two years ago.

Kelkar says customers have been “understanding” about the programme delay, adding, “They’re still way more focused on the capabilities and productivity of the product than a… shift to the right. That was very encouraging for us.”

Honda Aircraft is not yet taking firm Echelon orders, partly because it has not yet settled on price, though the team is evaluating market conditions and closing in on a figure.

“Price is a one-time discussion,” Kelkar says. “The goal is, in the coming months, [to] start floating the basic numbers… to the customer base.”

The US market holds the most opportunity for Echelon, with Kelkar particularly citing the country’s robust aircraft-charter and fractional-ownership market. “The US is going to be a dream market for us – that goes without saying,” says Kelkar.

He also sees robust sales opportunity (and “without mass discounts”) in Southeast Asia, and views Japan, Europe and the Middle East as prime markets.

Kelkar cites India as “a superbly growing market for the private charter business” and notes the strength of Brazil’s robust general aviation market, adding that Echelon will be unique among light jets in having sufficient range to fly across Brazil.

Several years ago

Source: www.flightglobal.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.