Design and Development
The Embraer E-Jets line is composed of two main commercial families and a business jet variant. The smaller E-170 and E-175 make up the base model aircraft. The E-190 and E-195 are stretched versions, with different engines and larger wing, horizontal stabilizer and landing gear structures. The 170 and 175 share 95% commonality, as do the 190 and 195. The two families share near 89% commonality, with identical fuselage cross-sections and avionics, featuring the Honeywell Primus Epic EFIS suite.
All E-Jets use four-abreast seating and have a "double-bubble" design, which Embraer developed for its commercial passenger jets, that provides stand-up headroom. Although commonly referred to with simply an "E" prefix, the jets are technically still Embraer Regional Jets ("ERJ"s), which still refers to the smaller Embraer ERJ range. Embraer dropped the ERJ prefix in its advertising early in production. The E-190/195 series of aircraft have similar capacities to the initial versions of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 737, which have always been considered mainline airliners.
The launch customers for the aircraft were the French airline Régional Compagnie Aérienne Européenne with ten orders and five options for the E-170; and the Swiss airline Crossair with an order for 30 E-170s and 30 E-190s. The largest single order for any type of E-Jets has come from JetBlue with 100 orders for the E-190, and options for 100 more. JetBlue set the record for the longest flight of the E-190 family on November 6, 2008, when one of its aircraft made a non-stop flight from Anchorage, Alaska (Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport) to Buffalo, New York (Buffalo Niagara International Airport), a total of 2,694 nmi (4,989 km). This was an empty aircraft on a non-revenue flight. The aircraft eventually returned to JFK after a two-month-long charter service with Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
In November 2011, Embraer announced it would re-engine the E-Jet family and deliver the first example before 2018. Embraer is yet to choose a new engine. In February 2012, Embraer announced they are studying the development of a new variant with 130 seating capacity. The study is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.
Read more about this topic: Embraer E-Jet Family
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