About 3 years ago SAABs management made a statement that they would never return to civil aircraft manufacturing. Then this year they suddenly about face and state that they had been looking at it for 2 years.
Now they turn around and say its off the table again.
What it seems like is that the ATR sales spurred them into seeing if they could get significant interest in something civil and it just isn't there in the numbers they are seeking, so back to the shelf. By the vague nature of their comments I don't think they actually had a product in mind whether it be a 90 seater or S2000 re-born.
A number of other economic factors currently would limit any sales, primarily due to economic slow down, poor airline financial support and the price of oil not hitting the highs it was expected to get to.
A new (or updated) aircraft in the 20-50 seat bracket is needed but there just isn't the cash out there to justify it.
Last edited by 43Inches; 1st Sep 2012 at 05:31.