Less than a year since it placed the order for 30 Embraer E195-E2s, Canada's Porter Airlines has excitedly shared pictures of its first aircraft taking shape on the production line. With the first delivery expected in 2022, the Linkedin images of the assembled fuselage suggest that the target is within reach.

It was a bold move by Porter to place the order for 30 E-195-E2s, with options for 50 more, just as the pandemic was grounding most of the world's commercial airline fleet in 2019.

A bold move by Porter during the fleet gounding

It needs to be remembered that when Porter announced the order on July 12, 2021, operations were suspended and did not recommence limited operations until September 2021.

With aircraft parking brakes being applied everywhere, the airline announced itself as the E-195-E2 launch customer for North America and globally the second-largest customer for the type, the largest if the options are exercised.

Undaunted by COVID, Porter signaled its first foray into operating jet aircraft, adding complexity well beyond its current 29 De Havilland Canada Dash-8 400 aircraft, which will continue to operate regional services.

As well as dealing with the shift to jets, Porter will also have to navigate adding operations from Toronto Pearson International Airport while retaining its turboprop hub at Billy Bishop Airport. Founder and Executive Chairman Robert Deluce said,

"Our corporate headquarters at Billy Bishop is being maintained and we will continue serving the same network of regional markets from downtown Toronto. We are moving beyond this existing footprint to welcome more travelers across North America, with an emphasis on providing the sophisticated service that only Porter delivers."

The opportunity to add new routes across Canada and the US and to Mexico and the Caribbean

Since starting in 2006, Porter has built a route network of 15 destinations across northeast Canada and the US from its hub of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, just 4 kilometers from Toronto's CBD.

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Its routes cover major cities including Montreal, Ottawa, Chicago, Boston, New York and Washington DC, with seasonal services to holiday destinations, like Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, US.

Porter has flagged the E-195-E2 will create a continental route network, flying coast to coast in Canada and the US and Mexico and the Caribbean. With the new jets increasing passenger capacity from 90 to 146 and more than doubling the range of the Dash 8, they will potentially change the face of what Porter can offer.

The first E195-E2 was delivered to Azul Brazilian Airlines in September 2019, already operating one of the world's largest fleets of E-195 aircraft. According to Planespotters, it now has nine E195-E2 and 50 ERJ-195 aircraft in its total fleet of 159 aircraft.

Other airlines operating Embraer E2 jets include Air Astana, Helvetic Airways, Air Kiribati, Binter Canarias, Air Peace and Widerøe Airlines.

The aircraft was simultaneously granted certification by the FAA, EASA and Brazil's ANAC in April 2019. In February 2022 it undertook extensive cold-weather testing in the 'natural environment,' a requirement of Transport Canada.

In a three-class configuration the E195-E2 can seat 120 or up to 146 in a single class of seats set at 28" pitch. With 146 passengers it has a range of 2600 NM, a maximum cruise speed of Mach 0.82 with a service ceiling of 41,000 feet.

It's easy to see why Porter is so keen to share images of its first E195-E2 being produced and time will tell if the courageous decision, taken during the pandemic, is the gamechanger they hope it will be.