Air TransportEmbraer E2 Jets Record the Best Sales Year in Their History
Launched in June 2013 during the Paris Air Show, Embraer’s E2 family of commercial jets initially failed to replicate the success of the original E-Jets series, which quickly accumulated hundreds of orders.
In 2025, however, the E190-E2 — and especially the E195-E2 — have achieved the best sales year in their history, with 154 firm orders so far.
This represents almost one-third of Embraer’s total backlog since the first order placed by AerCap twelve years ago.
Including the most recent agreement signed with lessor TrueNoord, there are now 491 firm orders for E2 jets. Of these, 424 are for the E195-E2, the largest commercial aircraft ever developed by Embraer.
2025: A Year of Change
The turnaround began in February, when All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced an order for 15 E190-E2s to renew its regional fleet following the failure of Japan’s SpaceJet program.
In June, however, Embraer suffered a setback when long-time customer LOT Polish Airlines ended its decades-old partnership, opting instead for the rival Airbus A220 to replace its large fleet of E-Jets.
The loss was painful, but Embraer quickly rebounded with a surprising order for 45 E195-E2s from SAS. In less than 40 days, the company signed three major contracts totaling nearly 100 aircraft.
On September 10, Avelo Airlines became the first U.S. carrier to order the type, with 50 E195-E2s. Less than two weeks later, LATAM announced a deal for 24 E195-E2s plus 50 options, and on October 14, Netherlands-based lessor TrueNoord placed an order for another 20 aircraft.
As a result, the E2 customer list now includes 30 operators — a respectable figure for a jet competing for orders against the Airbus giant.
Successive Challenges
Several factors have held back the sales performance of the E2 jets, despite their higher capacity, greater range, and lower operating costs per seat.
The first was the failed sale of Embraer’s commercial aviation division to Boeing.
What was expected to boost sales through broader joint agreements with the U.S. manufacturer instead became a setback, leaving the E2 program in limbo.
The joint venture was dissolved in April 2020, just as another crisis emerged — the Covid-19 pandemic — which sharply reduced deliveries.
Even after the health crisis subsided, supply chain disruptions and persistent issues with Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engines caused further delays that have not yet been fully resolved.
E175-E2 Could Have Added More Orders
Now, those challenges appear to be behind, and Embraer aims to resume delivering more than 100 commercial aircraft per year — including the first-generation E175, still its best-seller.
The E2s, however, have a long way to go to match the success of the original E-Jets. The E175 alone has secured around 1,000 orders and remains in production. The E190, once Embraer’s sales leader, reached 568 deliveries — still ahead of the E195-E2, which currently has 424 firm orders.
The picture could be even stronger were it not for a strategic misstep when Embraer developed the E175-E2, a capable aircraft that nevertheless exceeds the scope clause limits agreed between major U.S. airlines and their pilot unions.
Had it been designed within that capacity envelope — up to 76 seats and a maximum takeoff weight of 46 tons — the E175-E2 would likely have attracted hundreds of orders from U.S. regional carriers.
Even so, the company is experiencing its best momentum in years, and all indications suggest that new E2 orders will emerge in the coming months.
About the Author
Ricardo Meier
Creator of the website that started in 1996 as a magazine. He also writes on Brazilian websites AUTOO, MOTOO and MetrôCPTM.
