Envoy Air, a regional subsidiary of American Airlines, announced on Wednesday another plan to expand its fleet of Embraer E-Jets.
According to the company, 19 regional jets will be added, eight E175s and 11 E170s, starting in 2024.
With the new announcement, Envoy’s fleet will reach 169 Embraer aircraft. Last year, the company had already announced other agreements totaling 17 E175s and five E170s.
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“This measured, sustainable success is a direct outcome of Envoy’s commitment to safety, quality and cost,” said Envoy President & CEO, Pedro Fábregas.
These three principles are central to everything we do, and enable us to provide safe, high-performing, and cost-effective regional service for the thousands of customers we serve each day, for American Airlines Group and its shareholders, and for more than 19,700 Envoy employees in the Pacific, North America, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.”
According to Planespotters, Envoy currently has 140 E-Jets – 32 E170s and 108 E175s, some of them new, such as the aircraft registration number N311VE, which was delivered by Embraer in December.
The E170s, configured with 66 seats (12 in business and 54 in economy), come from other airlines, such as the N649RW jet, which flew for United Express.
The plane was operated by Republic Airlines and was transferred to Envoy in November.
Envoy was a major operator of the ERJ 145, a 50-seat regional jet also manufactured by Embraer. The carrier ceased operations with the type in May 2023.
No competitors
The United States is by far the largest market for Embraer’s E170 and E175 models, due to the scope clause, an agreement between main carriers and crew unions that prohibits the adoption of aircraft with more than 76 seats and maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) over 86,000 pounds.
Since the end of production of CRJ jets and the cancellation of Mitsubishi’s SpaceJet series, Embraer has found itself alone in this niche, which can only be served by the E175, the Brazilian company’s most successful aircraft.
