Today, Embraer delivered its 1,600th E-Jet, an E190-E2 to the Swiss carrier Helvetic Airways. The Brazilian company, which has been around since the 1960s, introduced the E-Jet family back in 2004. Let’s investigate further.
Helvetic Airways is transitioning from the first E-Jets to E2s
Currently, Helvetic Airways has a fleet of 16 aircraft, all built by Embraer. It has five Embraer E2 and 11 ERJ-190.
The carrier received its first E190-E2 back in October 2019. Helvetic Airways has a firm order for 12 E190-E2 and purchase rights for another 12 E190-E2, with conversion rights to the E195-E2, said Embraer in a statement. In total, Helvetic Airways could acquire 24 E2 aircraft.
By February, when Helvetic Airways received its third Embraer E190-E2, the carrier said it expected to receive four more airplanes during the summer. Parallel to this, Helvetic Airways planned to retire three of the E190-E1.
Tobias Pogorevc, the Helvetic Airways’ CEO, said in February,
“With its meaningful mix of seat capacity, range, fuel consumption, and eco-friendly credentials, the Embraer E195-E2 is virtually unchallenged in the 120-to-150-seat medium-haul segment.”
A brief history of the E-Jet family
Back in 1997, Embraer began studying the design of a 70-seat aircraft. By that time, the Brazilian company already had experience with previous commercial airliners. For example, between 1970 and 1990, Embraer produced almost 500 EMB 110, also known as Bandeirantes. It also built the EMB-120, and in the nineties, Embraer introduced the ERJ family.
The E-Jet family made its worldwide appearance during the Paris Air Show in June 1999. The first aircraft of this new family was the E170, which made its maiden flight in 2002. LOT Polish Airlines received the first airplane of this family in March 2004.
Currently, Embraer has two generations of the E-Jet family. The first is composed of the original versions E170, E175, E190, and E195. Additionally, Embraer launched the private version of the E190, known as the Lineage 1000.
In the mid-2010s, Embraer launched the E-Jet E2 family, composed of the newer versions of the E175, E190, and E195. The E2 family debuted its commercial operation with the Norwegian operator Widerøe in 2018.
In its history, the E-Jet family has logged over 1,900 orders from more than 100 customers. Nearly 80 airlines currently fly Embraer E-Jets, the company said.
What’s next for Embraer?
Embraer delivered its 1,500th E-Jet back in December 2018. The US carrier Horizon Air received the plane, an E175 configured with 12 seats in first class, 12 in premium class, and 52 in the main cabin.
Between the 1,500th and the 1,600th delivery, Embraer went through a lot. It saw how Boeing canceled its Joint Venture Deal and how the pandemic affected its current operations.
Nevertheless, Embraer may be in a sweet spot. As Francisco Gomes Neto, its CEO, said in the earnings call in June, the company has “at this point of time a quite stable situation.” He added that the company had registered some deferrals but no cancelations, unlike Airbus and Boeing.
Currently, Embraer expects that the production program for 2020 and 2021 will be quite stable. Meanwhile, the company is planning a new set of five-year plans focused on efficiency and profitability.
What do you think of the E-Jet family? Let us know in the comments.
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