Airplane economics: A220-300 vs E195-E2

These two aircraft compete vigorously. The A220 benefits from Airbus's market power. The E195-E2 still competes, as Embraer marketing points to its excellent numbers. Embraer may not have Airbus's resources, but it makes up for it by moving faster and implacably. When reading the marking documents from any OEM, it is quickly apparent that only one airplane can be "best." Fortunately, objective data helps clear the fog. Our source is the excellent Skailark data. The tables and charts reflect the top operators by flight frequencies, and the red dots and triangles reflect high points. These two aircraft are as competitive as the MAX 8 and A320neo; there's very little daylight between them. The longer the data history, the longer the sparklines. Our data starts in 1Q19 through 4Q24. The A220-300 [caption id="attachment_89296" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Source: Skailark; AirInsight[/caption] On average, the A220-300 operates 2.4-hour segments. The E195-E2 [caption id="attachment_89297" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Source: Skailark; AirInsight[/caption] On average, the E195-E2 operates 2.1-hour segments. Taking these tables and turning them into charts, we get the following. Note that A220 operations fall loosely into four categories by fight times. For the E2, there are two categories. A220-300 [caption id="attachment_89300" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Source: Skailark; AirInsight[/caption] E195-E2 [caption id="attachment_89299" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Source: Skailark; AirInsight[/caption] Although economic performance numbers like block hours per flight and fuel burn show these two models' neck and neck, the market reaction has been quite different. [caption id="attachment_89304" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Source: Skailark; AirInsight[/caption] The A220, initially known as the CSeries, was started earlier. When Airbus took over the program, it accelerated sales by packaging the A220 with the A321neo. An early example of this was the JetBlue deal. JetBlue had almost signed for the E2 when Airbus came in with an offer it could not resist. Airbus has been able to push the A220. Airbus has not always gotten its way. Porter in Canada, for example, was an early CSeries customer. That said, the A220 has attracted significantly more interest. Embraer has kept tweaking the E2 to make it more attractive. Here's its presentation from Farnborough in 2024 highlighting the ideas. Since then, Embraer has also improved takeoff performance. Thus, it is fair to say that Embraer has proven more creative. This is why we described Embraer as moving faster. Conclusion The economic gap between these two aircraft is tiny, so the choice must be tough for operators. Other issues, like pilot training and creative financing, surely play a big role. In conclusion, these two aircraft offer nearly identical performance. Operators are fortunate to have two such capable models from which to select.

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