Fairchild will build a F28 compact-jet in cooperation with Royal Netherlands Aircraft Factories Fokker. The Dutch company has designed the plane and built its prototype.

The roar of publicity over such super-commercial airplanes as the SST and Boeing’s 747 jumbo jet has largely drowned out the hum of a smaller but still important market. Lured by the economy of jet planes and lifted by their earnings from increased traffic, regional airlines around the U.S. have…