REDESIGNED. FROM NOSE TO TAIL NEW E-JETS E2S

Embraer’s competitors and industry analysts often characterise the Brazilian manufacturer’s second-generation E-Jets as having just a few superficial design changes compared to the first-generation. In fact, the E2s are radically different. You might even

TANDING BESIDE THE PROTOTYPE E190E2 at Embraer’s factory in São José dos Campos, you first notice the sheer size of the Pratt & Whitney PW1900G engines in proportion to the aircraft. At slightly more than two metres in diameter, they’re big. The wings, with their swept tips, are an elegant gull shape. Those are the most visible characteristics of the E2. Yet it’s the things you can’t see—new avionics, a roomi- er cabin, simplified maintenance, better operating economics—that really tell the story of a generational leap with the E-Jets family.

Recognising the global trend to larger-capacity jets, Embraer dropped plans early on for a 70-seat E2 and is on schedule to deliver three 76- to 130-seat variants between 2018 and 2020. Given that the structural and economic utility of most commercial airplanes averages about 20 years, the timing of the new E2s coincides with the service life of the first E-Jets that were delivered in early 2004.