Early Thursday Morning, the newly minted American Airlines Group announced a major order for large regional jets. The order includes 90 firm aircraft, and is to be split between Embraer S.A. and Bombardier, Inc. In addition to the firm orders, there are options for an additional 130 aircraft. All of the aircraft will be operated under the American Eagle brand. It is anticipated that these new, large regional jet orders will replace most of the 44- and 50-seat aircraft currently flying under the American Eagle brand. Those aircraft currently include the Embraer ERJ140 and ERJ145 and the Bombardier CRJ200.
A Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen in the American Eagle livery. Image courtesy American Airlines Group
Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Inc. picked up orders for 30 of its CRJ900 NextGen aircraft, plus options for an additional 40. These aircraft are expected to introduce new gains in efficiency, not seen in a previous order by any airline, which will improve the economics by 1.5%. The CRJ900s will seat a total of 76 passengers, split between 12 in First Class, 32 in Main Cabin Extra, and 32 in Main Cabin class. Delivery of the new jets is expected to occur beginning in the second quarter of 2014, and all of the Bombardier aircraft will be operated by former US Airways subsidiary PSA Airlines, Inc. There are currently 38 CRJ900s in the US Airways Express fleet, which are operated by regional carriers Skywest Airlines and Mesa Airlines.
Meanwhile, Embraer S.A from Brazil has raked in an order for 60 of its E175 jets, along with options for 90 more. The E175s will also seat 76 passengers, split between 12 in First Class, 20 in Main Cabin Extra, and 44 in Main Cabin. The regional airline partner that will operate the Embraer aircraft has not yet been determined by American. Deliveries of the E175 are expected to commence in the first quarter of 2015. Today’s order is in addition to a capacity purchase agreement that merger partner AMR signed with Republic Airlines in Late January of 2013. That agreement calls for the operation of 53 aircraft for a 12 year period, of which 14 are currently flying. In addition to those aircraft flying under the American Eagle brand, there are 38 flying under the US Airways Express brand. Those aircraft are also operated by Republic Airlines.
Ben Granucci, Contributing Editor, is an aviation enthusiast and planespotter based in New York City. Growing up in Connecticut, he has had his eyes toward the sky for as long as he can remember. He can be reached on Twitter at @BLGranucci or through his blog at Landing-Lights.com
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