Today, Embraer is famous for its regional jets, which often compete with both Airbus and Boeing, and sometimes outclass them! This mostly thanks to the Embraer ERJ-145, Embraer’s original regional jet…
Whilst Embraer had made regional airliners before, mostly turboprops, these were mostly used by small commuter airlines, who fed into much larger airlines.
However, the introduction of the Embraer ERJ-145 saw Embraer-made aircraft actually be used by these much larger airlines, rather than by independent airlines who were operating as these larger airlines!
Pre-Embraer ERJ-145
Despite what you may think, the concept of a regional airliner isn’t all that new. The first modern regional airliners were released following the release of the first jet airliners.
Here, these original regional airliners, such as the BAC 1-11, Fokker F28 (as well as early business jets like the BAe 125 and Dassault Falcon 20) were marketed as a cheaper alternative to the expensive, long-range, early jet airliners.
Whilst the most famous regional airliners were jets, the overwhelming majority were turboprops, mostly because they were cheaper to build and operate, and were therefore more appealing to airlines.
For the most part, the jets were only ever used on the highest-demand regional routes, usually those that went further than the turboprop regional airliners would allow.
By the early 1990’s, the price of oil (and therefore jet fuel) had dropped considerably. This made it more economical to operate a small jet on these regional routes, as opposed to turboprops.
With this information, aircraft manufacturers began designing regional jet airliners based on the designs of their earlier turboprops, just as airlines began to demand them.
Development
At the time, Embraer’s flagship regional airliner was the turboprop-powered EMB-120 Brasilia. In order to save on costs, Embraer initially hoped to stretch the EMB-120’s fuselage and give it jet engines, in place of turboprop engines.
In 1990, Embraer would designate this aircraft as the EMB 145 Amazon, with the jet retaining 75% part commonality with the EMB-120, as well as retaining the EMB-120’s iconic overwing engines.
Whilst trying to find suitable engines, Embraer showed the design to every major engine manufacturer in the world, however the jet’s overwing engines would require extensive (and expensive) modifications.
This was something that engine manufacturers didn’t want to do, as they didn’t believe the EMB 145 Amazon would be a success.
Due to this, Embraer was forced to use the EMB-120 as a base, but completely redesign huge aspects of the aircraft, including the entire wing and large parts of the fuselage.
However, Embraer designed this jet to have its engines mounted to the wings, something that engine manufacturers didn’t like on a jet that small. As such, Embraer was forced to once again redesign some parts of the jet, in late-1991.
By early 1992, Embraer had redesigned the Embraer EMB 145 Amazon, now simply known as the Embraer ERJ-145, to have fuselage-mounted engines, which engine manufacturers gave the greenlight to, in mid-1992.
Operational History
Following this, the Embraer ERJ-145 would build the first prototypes by the end of the year, before their first flight on August 11 1995. Following this, the jet would be certified and enter service with ExpressJet Airlines in April 1997.
From here, the ERJ-145 would go on to have one of the most interesting operational histories of any jet to date. Best of all, it’s one that’s still happening today!
Airlines
ExpressJet would receive their first Embraer ERJ-145s in December 1996. As a new airline, ExpressJet needed to receive its entire order of ERJ-145s before it could effectively commence operations.
The airline’s order would be fulfilled in April 1997, where the jet would officially commence operations. This marked not only the first commercial flight of the ERJ-145, but also the first commercial flight of ExpressJet Airlines too!
Whilst ExpressJet would be the launch customer for the ERJ-145, it is by no means the only airline to have operated the jet. In fact, almost every regional airline in the US operates at least a few ERJ-145s.
Over time, a number of other regional airlines in the Americas have acquired the jet too. Often, the ERJ-145 operators, whilst separate airlines, don’t operate the jet under their own name, but rather, under the name of another airline.
Although a logistic nightmare getting the Embraer ERJ-145s there, a number of European airlines (usually the regional arms of major European airlines) currently operate the jet.
Due to the jet’s specifically designed role, the ERJ-145 is most often used on high-demand regional routes. However, there are certain airlines that use the jet on routes that other airlines would use aircraft like the A320 and 737 on!
In recent years, however, a number of the larger airlines who operate the ERJ-145 have begun to retire the jet. Here, they are often replaced by E-190s and E-195s, also produced by Embraer.
Private Jet
Over the last 20 years or so, we’ve seen corporate/private jets become all the rage. On some routes, flying on a corporate/private is only marginally more expensive than flying commercial, whilst also being far more luxurious!
However, in the early 2000’s, there was only one problem: There weren’t enough jets.
Even when old private jets were brought out of retirement, there still were not enough jets to satisfy demand, with aircraft manufacturers were receiving more orders than they could physically handle.
In an attempt to try and ease the strain (and get their jets quicker!) many started placing orders for commercial airliners, with the hopes of finding an external company which would install a luxury interior in the jet.
Seeing this, most major aircraft manufacturers began to devise private and corporate jet variants of their famous airliners. Among these aircraft manufacturers would be Embraer, who’d create the ERJ-145-derived Legacy 650.
First entered into service in February 2002, the only real differences between the Embraer ERJ-145 and Legacy 650 (besides the luxury interior) are the winglets and extra fuel tanks that come as standard on the Legacy 650.
Although Embraer ceased production of the jet only recently (in mid-2020, alongside the rest of the ERJ-145 family), most Legacy 650s remain in service as of the time of writing.
Assuming you had the money, however, you could pick a used one up for around $10 million!
Charter
However, if you don’t have a spare $10 million lying around for a Legacy 650, there may be another way you could (feasibly) fly on the jet: By chartering it.
In recent years, the ERJ-145-derived Legacy 650 has become particularly popular with executive charter airlines, just as it has become quite popular with businessmen and celebrities around the world…
Although the rates (per hour) will differ based on the charter airline you fly with, the route you fly on and the time of year you choose to fly, you’d be looking at paying around $9,000 per hour to charter the ERJ-145-derived Legacy 650.
With that being said, you may not actually need the luxury of the Legacy 650. Perhaps, you plan on transporting a large number of people, or a mixture of lots of people and some high-value cargo.
Assuming this was you, you could also use the ERJ-145. However, this will often be a retired ERJ-145 airliner that has received a second life as a charter jet. The only real difference may be that the charter ERJ-145 has a newer interior…
Just as with chartering the Legacy 650, the amount you’d have to pay will varying slightly based on numerous factors. However, chartering an ERJ-145 will be slightly cheaper, at roughly $8,750 per hour.
Military
Beginning in the late 1990’s, AEW&C (AWACS) technology had progressed far enough that it was compact enough to fit in smaller aircraft, such as business jets and regional jets. Just like the Embraer ERJ-145…
With this, a number of militaries begun to look into AEW&C variants of most business/regional jets. Seeing this, Embraer partnered with Ericsson Microwave Systems (now Saab Microwave Systems) to do this.
These jets, known as the Embraer R-99, have been purchased by a number of militaries, who use them in favor of larger AEW&C aircraft like the 707-derived Boeing E-3 Sentry.
In a similar role, the Mexican Air Force has acquired a number of R-99s, which it has designated as the Embraer EMB 145 MP. Whilst the R-99 is an AEW&C aircraft, the EMB 145 MP is a maritime surveillance aircraft.
While retaining many of the capabilities of the R-99, the P-99 has been modified to have a number of highly classified sonar-tracking systems, as well as a more powerful radar than the R-99.
As of the time of writing, the Mexican Air Force are the only military to operate the Embraer EMB 145 MP, although a number of other militaries have inquired into the jet in recent years.
Government
Only a few years after the release of the ERJ-145, a number of governments similarly began to acquire the jet. Here, the jet would serve a number of different purposes, however, they’d most often act as VIP transports.
To date, a number of countries currently employ converted ERJ-145s in this role. However, by far the most famous country that did this was Belgium, who operated two ERJ-145s for VIP transport between 2001 and 2020.
Primarily, these jets were designed to transport high ranking government government officials, such as members the Belgian prime minister and members of the cabinet.
However, these jets would also be used to transport high ranking Belgian military officials, often transporting them between military bases, or to international events.
On a number of occasions, the jets have also been used to transport members of the Belgian royal family whilst on official duties, most often the king and former king.
Whilst Belgium is the most famous government operator, a number of government departments operate one or two ERJ-145s, almost exclusively for executive transport purposes!
Specifications
Despite major modifications, the ERJ-145 was derived from the EMB-120 turboprop airliner. As a result, the two aircraft do share a few specs which are (somewhat) similar.
On top of this, the ERJ-145 would serve as the basis for the shorter Embraer ERJ-135s and ERJ-140s.
The ERJ-145’s design would also inspire the design of the newer (and larger) E-Jets and E-Jet E2s, as such the ERJ-145 also has a few specs which are similar to them too…
| Specifications | Embraer ERJ-145XR |
|---|---|
| Length | 98 ft (29.87 m) |
| Wingspan | 65 ft 9 in (20.04 m) |
| Height | 22 ft 2 in (6.76 m) |
| Crew | 3 (two pilots and one cabin crew) |
| Passengers | 50 |
| Cruise Speed | 0.8 Mach (854 km/h; 614 mph; 461 kn) |
| Range | 3,700 km (2,300 mi; 2,000 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 37,000 ft (11,278 m) |
| MTOW | 53,131 lb (24,100 kg) |
How Safe is The Embraer ERJ-145?
In today’s day and age, aviation-related incidents seem to be popping up in the news on a regular basis. Whilst flying is still the safest way to travel, many people naturally wonder if the aircraft they’re about to fly on is dangerous…
For those flying on the Embraer ERJ-145, you’ll be glad to hear that the ERJ-145 is actually one of the safest aircraft you could fly on!
Since its introduction in 1997, the ERJ-145 has only been involved in a total of six aviation-related incidents. Whilst may seem like a lot, these six incidents resulted in no fatalities and only one hull loss.
To make matters better, none of these incidents resulted in any form of physical injuries.
Since the past safety record of an aircraft is a good indicator of future safety, it’s safe to say that if you were to fly on the ERJ-145 anytime soon, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll crash, and even less that you’ll get injured!
Looking at the accident reports, the majority of the ERJ-145’s incidents to date have been due to a mixture of pilot error and bad weather. This has often been due to icy runways, and pilots who are ill-prepared to handle this.
However, the hull loss incident was entirely down to poor pilot training. This pilot had little experience on the ERJ-145, resulting in him landing too fast, and trying to abort, thus scraping the tail across the runway, before the tail broke off.
A similar incident is mostly avoidable today, as the newest Embraer ERJ-145 pilots have been piloting the jet for almost a decade now. As a result, they know the ins and outs of the jet, meaning this shouldn’t happen again!
How Successful Was The Embraer ERJ-145?
For Embraer, the ERJ family as a whole wasn’t just another aircraft. Instead, the ERJ-145 was meant to be Embraer’s magnum opus, signifying its change from a second-rate aircraft manufacturer to one with a global reach!
Despite initially being mocked by the aviation community, the ERJ-145 did just that, selling 740 times. In fact, up until only very recently, the ERJ-145 was Embraer’s best selling airliner to date!
Most of the Embraer ERJ-145’s success can be attributed to the jet’s specs, which were often far superior to its jet competitors, most often the CRJ100 and CRJ200 produced by Bombardier.
Whilst the ERJ-145 and CRJ200 can both transport the same amount of people, the ERJ-145 outclasses the CRJ100/200 in almost every other regard, including range, speed as well as takeoff and landing distance.
On top of this, the ERJ-145 was also cheaper for airlines to acquire, costing $21 million, compared to $31 million for the CRJ200. As well as being cheaper to acquire, the ERJ-145 was also much cheaper to operate too…
In fact, the ERJ-145 has proven to be so successful for Embraer that they only recently stopped producing the aircraft (in mid-2020) after almost 30 years of production!
And this wasn’t because there weren’t interested airlines, Embraer was forced to do this as they were beginning to run out of production space for their newer (and more popular!) E-Jet and E-Jet E2 families.
Legacy
The success of the Embraer ERJ-145 has left arguably one of the largest impacts on the aviation industry, of any regional jet to date. Unlike many other jets, the ERJ-145 is still creating its legacy as of the time of writing!
Embraer
When the Embraer ERJ-145 was introduced in the late 1990’s, Embraer was a joke in the aviation world. The company’s most successful aircraft weren’t airliners, but instead agricultural aircraft, mainly crop dusters.
Prior to introducing the ERJ-145, Embraer had produced only two other airliners, the EMB 110 and EMB-120. However, these were regional turboprops, not regional jets, and have been called some of the worst aircraft ever built!
As such, the introduction of the ERJ-145 was laughed off by much of the aviation community. For those who took the risk and purchased the jet, however, they were pleasantly surprised at just how modern the ERJ-145 truly was.
In turn, this led to the company receiving loads of good press, basically making Embraer into the company it is today! This also opened up routes to future airliners as well as the business jet market.
Embraer ERJ-145
Today, the ERJ-145 remains fairly active. Although Embraer, themselves, ceased production of the entire ERJ family in mid-to-late 2020, most ERJ-145s are still in active service.
In recent many US-based regional airlines have begun to retire their ERJ-145s in favor of larger, more fuel efficient E-190s and E-195s. However, many ERJ-145s have often continued operating.
Instead of operating in the US, many are now operating in developing nations, where they simply can’t afford to buy brand new jets. Many more have been purchased by charter airlines for a variety of roles.
Today, almost all of the Embraer ERJ-145-derived Legacy 650 business jets are still in service. Currently, most operators of the jet look set to continue operating the jet for the foreseeable future too!
Future Aircraft
The initial success of the Embraer ERJ-145 left airlines demanding a slightly smaller derivative of the ERJ-145, that they could use on their slightly lower demand regional routes.
In turn, this led to the development of both the ERJ-135 and ERJ-140. The ERJ-135 would be the shortest of the three jets, being 3.5 m (11 ft 5 in) shorter than the ERJ-145, whilst the ERJ-140 was only 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) longer than the ERJ-135.
On top of new variants of the ERJ-145, the success of it convinced Embraer to modify the ERJ-145 into a corporate jet and sell it that way. The Legacy 650 has proven to be one of the most popular business jets of recent decades!
Beyond this, the success of the ERJ-145 would convince Embraer to begin work on a larger regional jet. This in turn led to the E-Jet family, and later, the E-Jet E2 family, both of which have been extremely successful!
What do you think of the Embraer ERJ-145? Have you ever flown on it? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Cory W. Watts via Flickr.