Fairchild Dornier 328JET

The Fairchild-Dornier 328JET is a commuter airliner based upon the turboprop-powered Dornier 328. A proposed stretched variant was the 428JET.

The 328 was designed and placed into initial production by the German aerospace firm Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH, but in 1996 that firm was acquired by the United States aerospace company Fairchild Aircraft. The resulting corporation, named Fairchild Dornier, continued the production of the 328 family in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, conducted sales from San Antonio, Texas, and supported the product line from both locations.

Design and development

Due to public perception of noise and reliability issues with turboprops, Fairchild-Dornier developed the turbofan-based 328-300 or 328JET, of which 83 were sold. The 328JET prototype rolled out on 6 December 1997 at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, and made its first flight there on 20 January 1998. The 328JET utilized the same cabin arrangement as the 328. Fairchild-Dornier also began development of the stretched 428JET, a 44-seat version of the 328JET.