It was a relatively ambitious bid to develop a group of aircraft that would have seated between 50 and 110 passengers, supplementing the existing 328JET series, a smaller regional jet.

The company planned its maiden flight to occur during the summer of 2002 and for deliveries to commence during mid-2003 to the launch customer Lufthansa Cityline.

However, the programme was derailed at a late stage by the insolvency of Fairchild Dornier, which occurred shortly after the official roll-out of the first 728.

[1] Despite attempts to revive the programme, including the establishment of Fairchild Dornier Aeroindustries, customers opted to cancel their orders and no aircraft actually ever flew.

[3][4] During October 1997, Fairchild Dornier announced what would become the 728 programme, which was initially known as the X28JET project and later publicly rebranded as the 728JET, at the Dubai Airshow.

[5] The new family of regional jets, the 528JET, 728JET and 928JET, seating from 55 to 100 passengers was launched at the ILA Berlin Aerospace Show (International Aviation and Space Flight Exhibition) in Berlin on 19 May 1998; prior to this, Fairchild Dornier had received provisional launch orders from German flag carrier Lufthansa, who placed 60 firm orders along with 60 options, and Swiss airline Crossair.

According to company President Jim Robinson, $220 million alone was fronted by the suppliers of the wing, fuselage and empennage, while efforts to secure further launch aid from both vendors and the German federal government were also underway.

[9] Various partnership arrangements were explored; at one stage, Fairchild Dornier were holding discussions with Franko-Italian regional aircraft manufacturer ATR on the topic of collaborating on the 728.

[10] At the time of launch, the company anticipated delivery of the initial production aircraft to take place during mid-2001, with type certification being achieved in the same year.

During March 2002, the official roll out of "TAC 01" (Test Aircraft 01) - the first prototype - occurred, at which point it was presented to the public for the first time.

[18] A week later, reports emerged that the company was in talks with four potential new strategic partners, and that securing at least one was of "critical and crucial" importance.

[19] Prior to the intended date of the 728's first flight being performed, Fairchild Dornier was rendered insolvent and forced to declare bankruptcy on 2 April 2002.

[20] One consequence of this was the whole programme being immediately brought to a standstill; shortly thereafter, both Lufthansa and GECAS chose to cancel their orders for the type.

The withdrawal of the 728's two biggest customers was a considerable blow to the programme, potentially putting off investors and partners that were being sought out at this time.

[21] During July 2003, D'Long International Strategic Investment Group of Xinjiang, China showed an interest in purchasing a stake the project.

A new entity, Fairchild Dornier Aeroindustries, was formed with the aim of completing development of the aircraft, however, this company also filed for bankruptcy during 2004.

[12] The basic version of the 728, referred to as the 728-100, would have been followed around the end of 2003 by the 728–200, which would have featured an extended range capability along with a higher payload capacity.