Embraer E-Jet : 170 : 190

Jeannot a écrit:La décision sur les moteurs des nouveaux E-Jets serait reportée à 2013.

Embraer E-Jet Decisions Months Off

Embraer may wait until 2013 to pick a new engine for its family of E-Jets as it talks with airlines about what upgrades are needed to keep the jets competitive.

President and CEO Frederico Fleury Curado says the Brazilian airframer is studying a range of options for the E-170/175 and E-190/195 jets, including a next-generation engine, whether to offer three or four variants and what improvements should be made beyond the new engines. But he says the company is “some time away from having a frozen configuration.”

Among the changes being looked at are an all-new wing and extended landing gear that would provide room for larger, higher-bypass turbofans aimed at providing fuel burn improvements of about 10% over current models. “My guess is the bulk of what is going to be the next generation of E-Jets would be (decided) more toward next year than this year,” Curado said in an editorial roundtable in Washington, adding that the existing E-Jets—which are designed to serve the 70- to 120-seat airline market—are selling well and have solid backlogs. “The -190 was certified just six years ago,” he notes.

Curado says whatever upgrades are made will be tailored to meet the needs of Embraer’s customers. “It’s identifying exactly what the customers want,” he says. “Those things are not as clear as one might think. You have to compute and translate that into airplane specs.”

The biggest change clearly will be to outfit the E-Jets with next-generation engines. Embraer has a longstanding relationship with General Electric (GE), which provides the CF34-8 for the E-170/175 and CF34-10 for the E-190/195 and is developing a new centerline regional jet engine dubbed NG34 and certified as a CF34 successor program. But Pratt & Whitney says it could offer almost a two-year time advantage to Embraer if the airframer selects a variant of the PW1000G geared turbofan, versions of which are being offered on the Airbus A320NEO, Bombardier CSeries and Mitsubishi Regional Jet. Rolls-Royce also is interested in offering a powerplant.

Asked what it would take for Embraer to leave GE, Curado stressed that the company is seeking not only more efficient fuel consumption, but also reduced maintenance costs and solid reliability. “GE is a great partner, (but) we have to be open-minded about what is the best engine for the aircraft,” he says. “It’s the core feature of the aircraft.”

Curado also confirms that the new family of E-Jets will not push up into the market segment long dominated by the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families. The Brazilian airframer had considered launching a new family of jets to enter that space, but abandoned the idea last November in favor of developing a second generation of E-Jets. “That was a difficult decision for us,” he acknowledges. “I think it was the first time that I decided not to do something … But we really do not see a business case for us, or for that sake, anybody else.”

“Down the road everything is possible,” he adds. “Technology changes, the competitive landscape changes. But I don’t see that in the short term.”

Jeannot a écrit:A suivre..

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] E-Jet Decisions Months Off

Embraer offers improved E-175 to win Delta order

In one of the most hotly contested regional jet orders of the year, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] has raised the stakes by offering an enhanced version of the 76-seat [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] E-175, according to an equities analyst.

Cai Von Rumohr, aerospace analyst for Cowen and Co, reported the existence of the E-175 "Plus" variant after attending an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] investor day in Melbourne, Florida, on 2 October.

Rumor describes the E-175 Plus as a variant that improves fuel efficiency by 5% compared to the baseline aircraft.

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[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was not immediately able to comment on the improved design, but the company notes that its strategy includes performance upgrades to keep the E-Jet family relevant until re-engined and possibly re-winged versions appear in 2018.

The E-175 Plus appears initially aimed at winning at least a share of Delta's requirement to buy up to 70 new 76-seaters, Rumohr says. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s 76-seat CRJ900 also is competing for the order, which will replace many of the 50-seat regional jets operated by Delta's regional partners, including Compass Airlines and Pinnacle Airlines.

Rumohr's research note to investors describes the potential Delta sale as a pivotal competition for [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s commercial jets division.

The Brazilian airframer's regional jet backlog is likely to dwindle to 180 aircraft as of 30 September, or 60 less than at the same time last year, Rumohr says.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] needs new regional jet orders soon to meet its public sales targets, which call for selling as many aircraft as it delivers each year.

But turmoil in the US regional airline sector is making that goal difficult. Expected orders by American Airlines and its regional partners for new 76-seat jets remain in limbo during the mainline carrier's bankruptcy restructuring process. Delta is now the only US airline expected to sign an order for new regional jets this year.

Embraer is also competing for smaller orders of E-Jets outside the USA, Rumohr says. Venezuela's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] may convert an option for 14 aircraft, while airlines in China, Indonesia and Africa may also place orders.

But such order prospects have not been enough to impress Wall Street analysts lately. Cowen joined JP Morgan in downgrading Embraer's stock rating from overweight to neutral.