This month, Embraer Commercial Aviation celebrates another historic milestone in its E-Jets program – the ten year anniversary of the first aircraft deliveries.  On March 8, 2004, LOT Polish Airlines and US Airways each received an E170.  US Airways was the launch customer of the E-Jet in the USA.  LOT was the first airline to operate a commercial E-Jet flight when the aircraft flew between Warsaw and Vienna on March 17, 2004.

“E-Jets revolutionized the market for medium-sized jets by incorporating a more spacious cabin for greater passenger comfort, and by making it versatile for operators to optimally manage their fleets,” said Paulo Cesar Silva, President & CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation. “Over these ten years, we have continuously worked to improve the E-Jet family by perfecting its performance and reducing operating costs.  This ensures that our customers have the best product in the up to 130-seat jet category and some of the best operational support services in the industry.”

Embraer is the only manufacturer to have developed a family of four modern airplanes specifically for the 70 to 130-seat capacity segment.  Since the formal launch of the program in 1999, Embraer E-Jets have redefined the traditional concept of regional aircraft by operating in other business applications.  Today, E-Jets are flying with mainline carriers, low-cost and regional airlines, and with scheduled tour companies.

In September 2013, Embraer delivered its 1,000th E-Jet.  The E175 was delivered to Republic Airlines, a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings Inc. of the USA.  That same year, the worldwide E-Jets fleet surpassed 10 million flight hours and carried some 540 million passengers.

Besides their proven reliability (the average mission completion rate is 99.9%), the global
E-Jets fleet has logged more than seven million flight cycles.  E-Jets operators have access to a strategically located worldwide customer support and services network of 37 service centers (MROs), 12 of which are authorized and 25 which are independent.

Embraer E-Jets command a 50% share of orders, a 62% share of deliveries in the 70 to 130-seat jet segment, and are in the fleets of 65 airline companies from 45 countries.  In June 2013, Embraer launched E-Jets E2, the second generation of the E-Jets family.  The first E2 is scheduled for customer delivery in 2018.

Picture: Rob Vogelaar ZAPP