A Staggered Approach

The odd one out is Embraer’s E-Jets E2 family, launched at the Paris Airshow in 2013 and due to be delivered from 2018. The E2 is a re-engined, re-winged, raked wingtipped version of the narrowbody E-Jet series that was launched in 1999 and delivered from 2004. More than 1,100 E-Jets have been built across the current four subtype range: the 70-80 seat E170, the 78-88 seat E175, the 94-114 seat E190 and the 106-122-seat E195.

Embraer is dropping thefamily, which will consist of the E175-E2, E190-E2 – first to be delivered in 2018 – and E195-E2.

Standard layouts will range from 88 passengers in an E175-E2 up to 132 passengers in an E195-E2, Embraer vice president Asia Pacific commercial aviation Mark Dunnachie told Australian Aviation.

“We’ve got the E-Jet just over 10 years in terms of age, and we looked really closely at the next step and the next chapter in the story. That encompassed everything: looking at larger segments, product sizing, and I think it’s fair to say that we watch the market very carefully,” Dunnachie said. “We saw the break by Airbus with the A320neo, closely followed then by the decision of Boeing withthe 737 MAX, and that reaffirmed to us that we should really be the masters of the niche in which we operate. And we would see that niche as being the 70‑130 seat segment. ”

The current E-Jet family serves a useful series of Australian missions

The E-Jet is no stranger to our skies, with Virgin Australia currently operating 18 of the extended-range E190AR aircraft in a 98-seat layout that includes six business class seats.

Darwin-based Airnorth currently operates three E170 aircraft in a 76-seat configuration on domestic and international routes, with a further aircraft in storage.

And Cobham Aviation Services now operates a newly-acquired 104- seat E190 on a charter basis serving oil-producing Barrow Island inWestern Australia.

Virgin Blue/ Australia also operated six of the smallest E170 type in a 78-seat seat configuration between 2007 and 2012, before selling the aircraft to Delta Air Lines regional carrier Compass Airlines.

Seat Count

“When you step back and look at the whole Australian market, it’s about the coast to coast requirements, the range, the need to service so many smaller domestic routes. We’re great advocates of right-sizing and frequency,” Dunnachie explained.

In terms of likely future E2 operators, “in Australia we’ve got Airnorth, we’ve got Virgin, and we’re delighted to see Cobham taking the E190. Of course we talk to every airline,” Dunnachie said. “Virgin as an incumbent operator would be someone we of course would want to show the merits of the E2. But equally when you look at Qantas’s fleet we would see opportunities to pitch there as well and say ‘look, we believe we have a really good offering in the segment’. ” Dunnachie is also bullish on the E2’s chances to replace the extensive, varied – and ageing – charter and fly-in/fly-out fleet. “You’ve got alot of BAe 146s, Fokker 100s and of course the Boeing 717 flying in Australia. The 717 is a great airplane built by an OEM with a long legacy. Anything that goes into that segment, which we would define as our market, is something that we are very comfortable with. Inevitably it reaffirms that that’s a size requirement the market needs. Eventually, those aircraft will have to be replaced, or if they want to grow that fleet it’s a limited supply. ”

Embraer stresses the E2 is more than a re-engining

Following its market research, Dunnachie said, “We made our engine selection and chose the Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan [GTF, now PW1000G]. ” Initial statistics for the PW1000G family suggest that improvements in engine technology could yield as much as a 15 per cent fuel efficiency gain for the 185cm fan diameter, 12:1 bypass ratioPW1900G compared with current-generation engines. The smaller 142cm fan diameter, 9:1 bypass ratio PW1700G is expected to hit a 12 per cent reduction in fuel consumption.

“On top of that, we said this is the right time to revisit the overall program,” Dunnachie highlighted. “We’re always at pains to stress this isn’t just about a re-engining. That differentiates us also from the neo and MAX approach. And we’re putting in a high aspect ratio wing, we are upgrading the flightdeck, we’re going full fly-by-wire. ” Further, notes Dunnachie, the E2 will have a common type rating with the original E-Jet, “so this will allow operators to [operate] tandem fleets. ”

Airbus’s neo and Boeing’s MAX have ceded Embraer’s end of the market

Five years after Airbus announced its A320neo family of aircraft, and four after Boeing announced the 737 MAX, neither of the world’s two dominant airframers has any plans to offer next-generation versions of the smallest family members, the A318 and 737-600.

Neither jet sold well, leaving the E-Jet family and Bombardier’s slightly less successful CRJ series to dominate the 70-100 seat market – and the CRJ’s success was primarily restricted to North America, where pilot labour agreements create different regional jet demand dynamics.

With the largest of the Bombardier family, the 100-seat CRJ1000, already a quadruple stretch of the 1990s-era CRJ200, it’s understandable why the Canadian planemaker decided to move to a clean-sheet design for the CSeries.

Evolving the E-Jet sets Embraer ahead of the competition

Of the five G20 regional jet producers – Brazil’s Embraer, Canada’s Bombardier, China’s Comac, Japan’s Mitsubishi and Russia’s Sukhoi – Embraer has a head start with sales relationships, fleet commonality, over 1,100 delivered airframes in the previous E-Jet generation, and 37 worldwideMRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) service centres.

Bombardier’s previous generation of regional jets, the Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ), is a completely different airframe to the much-delayed CSeries, and the decade-long development of Bombardier’s new jet has gone as well as any recent new jet: that is to say, not very.

New Priestmangoode cabins are turning heads…

A cabin that doesn’t feel like a tinny regional jet is one of the selling points of the first generation of E-Jets, and Embraer engaged London design house Priestmangoode toimprove on a passenger favourite for the E2.

Compared with the current E-Jets, “the whole interior has been modified in one way or another. Our aim was to offer a clean, contemporary cabin that not only enhances passenger experience, but significantly improves efficiency and maintenance for airlines and leasing companies alike,” Priestmangoode’s Daniel MacInnes told Australian Aviation.

The 2-2 configuration stays in economy, and a 1-2 layout in business is also available. But the real head-turner is the staggered 2-2 business class layout that Priestmangoode designed.

“We are conscious that there will be passengers coming off long-haul flights and transferring to an E-Jet to complete the rest of their journey,” MacInnes said. “We want to give business passengers a smooth transition between flights and give them a similar offer that you get on a long-haul including privacy, direct aisle access, additional IFE and stowage opportunities and most importantly, space. The staggered seat enables us to do this. ” “Importantly,” MacInnes emphasised, “the stagger also offers clear benefits from an engineering and a maintenance point of view. It allows us to use the same seat tracks as in economy without losing any of the living space and features you’d expect in first class. ” The benefits aren’t just for passengers either. “Using only one seat track for the whole cabin reduces weight, which in turn means greater fuel efficiency. It also means a simpler fitout andmaintenance process. Crucially, it allows airlines and leasing companies to easily configure and reconfigure the aircraft according to the number of seats in each class they wish to have,” MacInnes concluded.

…and passenger experience is set for improvements even over the popular E-Jets…

With no middle seats, a generous cross-section that allows for 18in wide seats in economy and overhead bins big enough to hold enough luggage, the original E-Jet family is a real passenger favourite.

The E2 is set to build on this legacy, with the same cross-section, improved materials engineering and upgraded overhead bins.

“The bins on the E2 are 40 per cent bigger than the E1, allowing you for the first time to put your bag wheels first in,” Embraer’s Dunnachie said. “Every single passenger on board can bring a wheely bag. ” Priestmangoode’s MacInnes explained further: “The way we were able to do this is by getting rid of the traditional passenger PSU (air and light control unit above the seats) and instead designing individual PSUs. Overall, we’ve increased carry-on capacity by nearly 40 per cent. ” For airlines looking to reduce turn times and speed up the boarding process, a reduction in checked luggage and a decrease in the number of passengers milling around playing carry-on Tetris can only be an advantage.

…but Embraer is also offering an ultra-high-density option

It’s not all sunny skies and staggered seats, though.

The cold hard numbers for a budget-minded airline are also impressive.

In the wake of the extra dooroption on the Airbus A321neo and the Ryanair-launched 737 MAX 200, Embraer’s Donnachie was also keen to spruik a knee-crunchingly tight option. “The 195 in the high density and slim seat configuration will go up to 146 seats. And in that configuration we will have 20 per cent lower trip costs than the neo and the MAX, with almost the same seat mile costs. ” According to follow-up data provided to Australian Aviation by Embraer, the E195-E2 would require a 28in seat pitch to enable those costs, similar in pitch to the 220-seater Airbus A321 aircraft currently operated by Jetstar.

It’s no lofty, staggered business class seating, but for true regional flying, where monopolies are frequent and the choices that exist are between perhaps two airlines operating regional jets or turboprops, passenger experience is less important than operating economics.

Used aircraft economics may stymie Australian regional adoption

Within Australia, eyes are on the larger regional players’ fleet plans.

Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) has 11 Fokker 100s that date back as much as a quarter century (VH-FNN). Cobham’s

Embraer’s place at the head of the regional jet pack worldwide seems to be assured.

15-strong British Aerospace 146/ Avro RJ fleet has an aircraft (VHNJC) that made its first flight in 1984, Alliance has seven Fokker 70s and 15 Fokker 100s all built before Fokker ceased aircraft manufacturing nearly 20 years ago, and the oldest of 18 QantasLink-branded 717s (VH‑NXI) first flew in 1999.

VARA/Skywest, Alliance Airlines and Cobham have built their businesses on the operating economics of second hand aircraft and so may not be early E2 candidates. But QantasLink certainly is, while it would not be unfeasible in time for Virgin Australia to replace its E-Jets with E2s, with the E-Jets in turn trickling down to VARA to replace the Fokker 100s.

At this stage Embraer is focused more on the main applications of E-Jets in the region which does not include operation in gravel runways. There are already plenty of opportunities in the normal paved runways. But in a second step Embraer may develop technical solutions address operations in niche markets like gravel runways.

The Tasman may be a new Embraer niche

Embraer’s Dunnachie has a twopronged attack on New Zealand in mind, an aviation market where Embraer has yet to penetrate.

First, he sees long and thin trans- Tasman services linking secondary airports on either side of the Tasman that don’t have the demand for a 168-seater aircraft like a Qantas 737-800 or an Air New Zealand A320, as what he calls “a complement to the wide- and narrowbodies. ” “That’s one thing we would really heavily push,” Dunnachie said. “I’m a great advocate that the passenger wants those direct services. And there’s a whole raft of smaller routes that could be verywell served. If you go into those smaller markets where there’s less competition, revenue can also be higher and more attractive. So we feel the combination of the lower trip cost, the right size of the aircraft and the cabin is very new. We’re not talking about replacing the A320 or 737, we’re talking about complementing those operations. ” Most missions between New Zealand and Australia’s eastern cities are feasible with existing E-Jet aircraft, particularly the E190AR frames that Virgin Australia already operates overwater (indeed, Virgin Blue painted one E190 in Pacific Blue colours with just such services in mind).

Air New Zealand’s order for A320neo and A321neo aircraft seems more to be about replacing and slightly upgauging the existing A320 fleet. With a change of the dynamic between Virgin Australia’s refurbished, business class-equipped ex-Pacific Blue aircraft and Air New Zealand’snew A320 family fleet, and little change to Qantas’ Jetconnect NZ-domiciled operations since the Qantas-Emirates alliance, Dunnachie’s optimism isn’t far-fetched.

Domestic New Zealand is also an option

In the context of Air New Zealand’s recent decision to remove the Beechcraft 1900D from its regional network, leaving Bombardier Dash 8 Q300 and ATR 72 turboprops as the mainstay of non-trunk flying within Aotearoa, and with the ongoing retirement of the older Boeing 737‑300, there will soon be no step in the NZ fleet between the 68-seater ATR 72 and the 171-seater domestic A320. A higher density jet with significantly improved overhead bin space compared with existing turboprop provisions could well be attractive.

That’s especially true if the promised 12-15 per cent efficiency improvements of the E2 and the PW1000G materialise, with Dunnachie promising that “the E175-E2 will have a lower seat mile cost than the current ATR 72. We see the 250 nautical mile point [463km] as where a switch in favour of the jet takes over. So, we see that as a new dynamic in the market. ” In New Zealand terms, ranges that Dunnachie suggests would therefore prove more efficient are essentially anything south of Wellington from Auckland, or points south and west of Timaru from Wellington.

Air New Zealand has clearly been convinced that the ATR 72 has a home in its regional flying and even uses it on some offpeak trunk route missions like Wellington-Christchurch. Will Embraer convince the Kiwi carrier with the E2’s operating economics?

But is it a jet for Australia?

Embraer’s place at the head of the regional jet pack worldwide seems to be assured, particularly given Bombardier’s CSeries delays and the lukewarm response to the jets from Russia, China and Japan.

Will we see it in Australian skies? The extent of its success will depend on whether the E2 family proves to be the right scale for Australian missions, whether there are enough airlines or charter operators requiring a small jet, and whether it can cope with the rigours of the operational environment.