Holding Firm

The E-Jets family has more than 800 commercial aircraft in operation with 60 companies in 40 countries with over 1,000 firm orders and a large number of options. The company expects to deliver around 1,100 aircraft by 2016.

Headquartered at Sao Jose dos Campos, Embraer SA, a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate is the world’s third largest manufacturer of commercial aircraft. In addition, the company produces military and executive aircraft and also provides aeronautical services. Although the era of the 1940s and the 1950s witnessed a number of initiatives by the Brazilian Government to establish a domestic aerospace industry, it was only in 1969 that its efforts fructified when the state-owned enterprise Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica (Embraer) came into being. Embraer was privatised in 1994 with the government holding stake in the company.

Regional Aircraft

While military aircraft made up the majority of Embraer’s products during the 1970s, in 1974, Embraer began the development of its first 30-seat passenger aircraft in the category of an airliner. Formally launched in 1979, the new aircraft christened as the Embraer 120 Brasilia, attracted immediate interest from many regional airlines particularly in the US and Europe. The first Embraer 120 entered service with Atlantic Southeast Airlines in October 1985. Aimed at the export market, this plane marked the first of Embraer’s highly successful small airliners. Even though the serial production ended in 2001, Embraer continued to deliver the EMB 120 for several years after Angola in 2007.

Today, Embraer is best known for its E-Jets that are a series of twin-engine, narrow body, medium-range airliners that have captured a sizeable market globally in the regional aviation segment. With production commencing in 2002, as of now, the E-Jets family has more than 800 commercial aircraft in operation with 60 companies in 40 countries with over 1,000 firm orders and a large number of options. The company expects to deliver around 1,100 aircraft by 2016. Of all the four versions produced and sold to the airline industry globally, the E-190 has proved to be the most popular. Of the total number of aircraft delivered, the E-190 constitutes nearly 50 per cent.

The surge in demand for E-Jets has clearly been beyond the expectations or predictions of the company. While this phenomenon was a virtual windfall for Embraer, it generated its own set of problems and challenges for the Brazilian aerospace major. These included the need for rapid and significant increase in the rate of production of aircraft entailing sizeable investments, muster and train the required human resources, sustained quality of product and support to an extremely diverse customer base progressing steadily across the globe.

The E-Jets

The smallest of the E-Jets family are the 80-seat E170 and the 88-seat E175 that replaced the BAe 146 and the Fokker 70. These have also been competitors to the Bombardier CRJ-700 and the CRJ-900. They are also somewhat similar to the turboprop Bombardier Q400 in capacity and performance. The E170 and E175 are powered with GE CF34-8E engines of 62.28 kN thrust each. First to be produced was the Embraer 170, the prototype of which rolled out on October 29, 2001, with its maiden flight on February 19, 2002. Following positive response from the airlines, Embraer launched the slightly larger E175 that flew in June 2003. After certification, the first E170 was delivered to the launch customer LOT Polish Airlines in March 2004. The first E175 entered service with Air Canada in July 2005.

The 114-seat E190 and the 122-seat E195 are stretched versions of the E170/175 family. These have larger wing, larger horizontal stabilisers and are powered by a new engine, the GE CF34-10E delivering 82.30 kN thrust. With seating capacity in the region of 100 plus, these aircraft are competitors to the smaller jetliners from other global aerospace majors such as Boeing 717-200, Boeing 737-500/600, Airbus A318 and the yet-to-be-launched Bombardier CSeries. The first flight of the E190 was on March 12, 2004, and that of the E195 in December the same year. In May 2006, Embraer embarked upon plans for the business jet variant of the E-190 designated as Lineage 1000. With range enhanced from 2,300 nm to 4,200 nm and luxury seating for up to 19, the Lineage 1000 was certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration in January 2009.

Exploring Alternatives

Embraer’s E-Jets family has a distinct advantage over its competitors and particularly Airbus and Boeing, as the former is of the right size especially for low density routes. Operations by E-Jets are profitable even with relatively modest load factors. However, plans by Airbus and Boeing to equip their aircraft with more fuel-efficient new generation engines, could threaten the advantage E-Jets currently enjoy. In response to indications from the airline industry for the need of an aircraft in the 130- to 160-seat segment, Embraer considered developing a new narrow-bodied clean sheet aircraft primarily to compete with Airbus and Boeing. One of the several options under evaluation was a stretched version of the E195 that was to be designated as the E195X. This plan was dropped as higher payload on the stretched version without corresponding enhancement of engine thrust would degrade the range to unacceptable levels. Embraer also considered turboprop alternatives but did not find market opportunities lucrative enough to warrant the investments required in a programme completely different from those the company was familiar and comfortable with.