Horizon Air, its wholly-owned subsidiary, has converted 9 options for the E175 to firm orders. Additionally, SkyWest Airlines, a partner carrier, has placed an order for 8 new E175s that will fly on behalf of Alaska Airlines under a capacity purchase agreement.
Deliveries of the 17 new E175s will start in 2022. With this order, Horizon will have a fleet of 42 E175s flying in Alaska Airlines colors. SkyWest currently operates 32 E175s for Alaska Airlines. The new order increases that number to 40.
Embraer’s North America market share on the 70-90-seat segment is 85%, with 601 net orders (618 accounting for Alaska’s new orders) since 2013. There are currently 588 E175s serving U.S. and Canadian carriers in cities across Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and Central America. The E175 has proven to be a real workhorse for U.S. airlines as they rebuild frequency and add capacity to satisfy rebounding domestic demand.
The 76-seat aircraft are the ideal size to open new markets. In fact, Alaska Airlines has been continually growing its network with E175s. Since March 2019, the E175 is the aircraft type with most departures in the Alaska Airlines (AS) system. During 2020, the E175 was also the first type to bounce back at Alaska, fully returning to the 2019 service levels in November. It replaced larger aircraft on Alaska intra-state routes last year and introduced new E175 nonstops between cities in California, Montana, and Texas.
Each E175 has 76 seats – 12 in the first-class cabin, 12 premium seats and 52 seats in the main cabin. The E175s also have Wi-Fi and stream Alaska’s Beyond Alaska Entertainment programs to personal devices.
