Take a look at this Bloomberg story. The key here is: “The first flight of the plane is projected to be in next year’s second half, Embraer said by e-mail, ahead of a planned commercial debut in 2018.”
Embraer has been quiet about E2 progress. In November Pratt & Whitney reported testing the aircraft’s engines has started. With a planned roll-out in February, Embraer will start to reinforce interest in its next generation of the E-Jet. By all appearances the E2 looks like being on-time. Given industry performance to date, that is a remarkable performance.
Doing business in Brazil has to be tough. Politics and economics in Brazil have created an unstable environment for local industry. There was a report that the Brazilian air force is behind on payments for the KC-390, which has to crimp Embraer‘s plans. If Embraer pulls off the E2 program on-time, they deserve special kudos.
The emergence of the E2 will pile on pressure for newly aggressive Bombardier. And the combination of these two will almost certainly ruffle feathers in the Big Oligopoly. 2016 looks to be an interesting year! The 100 seat market looks like it is heating up. While this segment is too low for the Big Oligopoly, success here means pressure at the 130+ segment next.
Pilot training and cockpit commonality as they move into the 130 seat range may become an issue.
It’s easier for the E2 to be on schedule, since it’s not an all-new design, but rather a re-engining of the current aircraft with fuselage plugs, wing extensions and system updates.
Effectively. One could say the same of 320NEO. Embraer will offer the market a mixture of old and new technologies. Ask a carpenter what he thinks of putting new items on old walls …
Embraer’s announcement may have something to do with the vote from United’s pilots on contract extension in January. After the vote United will probably pass an order for 100 seaters, any possible delay from the E2 would favour the C Series. So it is in the interest of Embraer to rush the roll out of the E2
Every program that took the shortcut of replacing engines with the GTF end up having a weight penalty due to strengthening of the wing and so on. The MRJ90 and the E2-175 are close to 100 000 pounds for a regional jet. My guess is every E2 model will end up heavier than first predicted. The lightest airplanes will now be the CRJs.
Not really like the NEO or putting new items on old walls. The E2 has NEW wings, new systems and a completely new fly-by-wire. Plus, they are known to keep weight down… it is going to be interesting since oil prices are err, declining, efficiency is not so big if a factor. At least not now…