Embraer's confidence in its E-Jet E2 offering appears to remain buoyant, as the Brazilian manufacturer maintains that its momentum will not be disrupted by its recent defeat to rival Airbus in a campaign for JetBlue Airways' business.
"We have 70 operators in 50 countries," Embraer commercial chief John Slattery told FlightGlobal after a media flight of the E190-E2 at the Farnborough air show. "It's always disappointing when you lose a campaign… but one campaign doesn't create or obliterate our momentum."
Citing demand in various regions including China, Southeast Asia and Latin America, Slattery indicates that Embraer is hopeful of announcing an E2 order at a planned press conference at the air show on 17 July.
New York-based JetBlue, which was the E190-E1's launch customer and operator, announced on 10 July that it would take 60 A220-300s to replace its 60-aircraft E190 fleet. The order came on the same day that Airbus formally rebranded the CSeries programme as the A220. Embraer had pitched the E195-E2 to JetBlue, which spent more than a year evaluating the future of its E190 fleet.
Slattery says there is nothing Embraer would have done differently with the JetBlue campaign, and that the manufacturer remains comfortable with its product positioning. He points out that JetBlue itself had praised the merits of the E195-E2.
JetBlue chief financial officer Steve Priest, who called the E195-E2 a "fabulous next-generation aircraft", said the race between Embraer and Airbus had been incredibly close.
"We live for the challenge," says Slattery of future campaigns. "We have plenty of products in the mix."
Embraer forecasts demand for 10,550 new deliveries in the up-to-150-seat market between now and 2037. The manufacturer estimates that 65% of these will be for growth and the rest for replacement of older jets.
The E190-E2 entered into service with Norway's Wideroe in April, and the type has so far accumulated 800 flight hours at the airline, with a utilisation of about 7h a day. Wideroe currently operates three E190-E2s, Flight Fleets Analyzer shows.
Get all the coverage from the Farnborough air show on our dedicated event page
Source: Cirium Dashboard
