Embraer E-Jet E2

Development

Background

During the early 2010s, the regional jets segment of the international airliner market grew more competitive with the announcement of the Airbus A320neo and the Boeing 737 MAX, thus it was thought that Embraer would have to respond or else lose the competitiveness of the E-Jet family through inaction. In 2010, Embraer was reportedly considering directly challenging the Bombardier CSeries (now A220) by developing a clean-sheet five-abreast airliner for 100 to 150 passengers. The alternative option was to somehow improve the E-Jet family to maintain its attractiveness to customers.

In November 2011, Embraer announced at the Dubai Air Show that it had committed to developing new generation of its E-Jet family. This option was both lower risk and lower cost than pursuing a clean sheet design. At the time, Embraer reportedly foresaw a demand for 6,400 commercial jets with capacity of up to 130 seats over the following 20 years. The smallest of the new variants, the E-175-E2, seats up to 88 passengers in a single class configuration, the medium-sized E-190-E2 seats up to 120 passengers, while the largest model, the E-195-E2 seats up to 150 passengers. During the late 2000s, Embraer had studied an aircraft of such capacity, dubbed the E-195X, but had discarded the concept in 2010 in light of degraded aircraft performance in the absence of a re-engine. On account of its poor sales and decreasing demand for 70 seat jets, a redesigned counterpart to the E-170 was not pursued.

One key feature of these new variants would be more efficient engines with larger diameter fans; several large engine manufacturers, GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce, were all evaluated by Embraer as possible suppliers. During January 2013, it was announced the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G, a geared turbofan, had been selected to be the exclusive engine of the E2. Embraer commercial aircraft president Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva noted that the PW1000G was the best suited engine for the performance sought by customers. The selection of the PW1000G is likely to have been eased by the parallel development of the smaller PW1200G engine for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet as well as the larger and more mature PW1500G for the Airbus A220.

The E2 family made various improvements in its performance, such as a reduced specific fuel consumption, lower emissions and noise output, minimised maintenance costs, along with the use of a new aluminum or carbon fiber-based wing. These wings had a higher aspect ratio, a longer wingspan, and were equipped with raked wingtips instead of winglets. In early 2013, Embraer referred to this project as being "the E-jets second generation". During June 2013, the $1.7 billion program was launched at the Paris Air Show, citing strong customer demand.

The development programme made extensive use of digital model simulations and static test rigs, enabling rapid progress to be made early on. By May 2016, less than three years after being launched, the E2 had 640 commitments from various airlines and leasing companies, 267 of which were firm orders while 373 were options and purchase rights.

Flight testing

On 25 February 2016, the first E-Jet E2, an E190-E2, was rolled out. It performed its maiden flight from São José dos Campos on 23 May 2016, three months ahead of schedule. It flew for three hours and twenty minutes to Mach 0.82, climbed to 12,000 metres (41,000 ft), retracted the landing gear and flaps, and engaged the fly-by-wire in normal mode. It flew earlier than the previously anticipated second half of 2016. The program had fewer challenges than expected and introduction was then planned in the first quarter of 2018. The airplane was slightly below expected weight and the other two E190-E2 prototypes should fly within a year.

On 8 July 2016, the second prototype made its maiden flight; this initial flight lasted two hours and 55 minutes and was incident-free. The first E-Jet E2 flew from Brazil to Farnborough Airshow just 45 days after its maiden flight, demonstrating maturity and confidence in the design. By April 2017, 650 hours of flight tests had been completed and the program was reportedly on schedule. Embraer sought to guarantee a 99% schedule reliability in the first year of service. By June 2017, half of the flight testing had been completed; the aerodynamics were reportedly better than predicted and the E190-E2 hot and high performance was also better than anticipated.

The E195-E2's MTOW increased to 61,500 kg (135,600 lb) and its range to 2,600 nmi (3,000 mi; 4,800 km). In June 2017, the four E190-E2s and the single E195-E2 - which was presented at the 2017 Paris Air Show - had made more than 900 flight-test hours, mostly by the E190-E2s. In July 2017, the five aircraft had flown 1,000 flight-test hours while the E190-E2 had accomplished 55% of its test campaign. In January 2018, 98% of the test campaign was completed with 2,000 flight hours.