An AP story circulated over the weekend says that Boeing may be on the cusp of getting into the Regional Jet market, with a venture that could tie it to Mitsubishi.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (newspaper), of Tokyo, said Friday that Mitsubishi is hoping to be in the air with a 30-passenger prototype in five years. Its price, the paper said, would be just under $10 million in today's dollars. It didn't says if that would be a delivered price, or 'green.'

Boeing, when asked, said it's not deeply into this program. Boeing spokesman Peter Conte said, "We are always studying other market opportunities. This would fall into that category."

Apparently, all the rumor started when Mitsubishi shopped for partners to conduct a marketing study, and Boeing's name came up.

For that matter, it is known that Boeing has also been talking with Ilyushin and Sukhoi for years, about a sub-717-sized 'liner line. Boeing itself scrapped its idea to 'shrink' the 717 down to as few as 70 PAX, about two years ago. The typical layout in a 717, Boeing's smallest airliner, accommodates 106 passengers.

FMI: www.boeing.com