Agreement further strengthens the partnership between the manufacturer and the airline
São José dos Campos, Brazil, November 21, 2011
– Embraer and Aerolíneas Argentinas have recently reached a six-year Flight Hour Pool Program agreement, by which Embraer will provide component support for the carrier’s entire fleet of 20 EMBRAER 190 jets through 2017.
Aerolíneas Argentinas and Austral now become one of Embraer’s largest E-Jets Pool customers.
Embraer’s Latin American and Caribbean commercial E-Jets fleet has grown significantly since the first carrier began operating the aircraft in 2005.
The market share in the 60- to 120-seat category has exceeded 79%, with most carriers electing to entrust their component support requirements to the Embraer Pool Program, demonstrating its reliability and robustness.
“We are proud that Aerolíneas Argentinas has trusted Embraer as the provider to support its new fleet of E190s,” said John Linn, Vice President, Services and Support, North America, Embraer Commercial Aviation. “The Pool Program allows Austral to focus on operating their aircraft at the highest levels of reliability and availability, while allowing Embraer to manage the supply-chain for high-cost rotable components.”
Embraer’s Flight Hour Pool Program, which currently supports over 30 airlines worldwide, is designed to allow them to minimize their upfront investment on expensive repairable inventories and resources, and to take advantage of Embraer’s technical expertise and its vast component repair service provider network.
The results are significant savings on repair and inventory carrying costs, reduction in required warehousing space, and virtually eliminating the need for resources required for repair management, while ultimately providing guaranteed performance levels.
“Aerolíneas Argentinas and Austral Líneas Aéreas are excited to strengthen their already close relationship with Embraer by entrusting their aircraft to the Company’s Flight Hour Pool Program,” said Mariano Recalde, President of Aerolíneas Argentinas. “Customer acceptance of our brand new E-Jets has been phenomenal. Being able to provide customers with high levels of reliability will allow us to continually focus on enhancing the overall customer experience.”
The agreement covers over 400 repairable part numbers and includes engines and auxiliary power unit for Austral’s E190 fleet.
About Aerolíneas Argentinas
Aerolíneas Argentinas, the national airline of Argentina, is one of the leading South American carriers. From its home bases in Aeroparque Jorge Newbery and Ezeiza International Airport, in Buenos Aires, it flies to 18 international destinations in the Americas, Europe and the South Pacific.
Along with Austral Líneas Aéreas, Aerolíneas operates flights to 34 destinations in Argentina, flying to more cities in the country than any other airline. Since 2010, Aerolíneas has been providing dynamic links between Argentina and other countries, through its relaunched hub in Aeroparque, and is currently carrying an ambitious fleet renewal program, which includes the acquisition of EMBRAER 190 jets.
Furthermore, the airline is working towards aligning its customer delivery processes and information technology (IT) platforms to become a member of the SkyTeam global alliance during the second half of 2012.
For more information about the company, visit: www.aerolineas.com.
About the Embraer family of E-Jets
The Embraer family of E-Jets consists of four commercial jets with 70 to 122 seats, featuring advanced engineering design, efficient performance, outstanding operating economics, low emissions levels and a spacious cabin without middle seats (2x2).
The E-Jets have a maximum cruising speed of Mach 0.82, can fly at 41,000 feet (12,500 meters) and have ranges of up to 2,400 nautical miles (4,450 kilometers). The high degree of commonality among the four aircraft – EMBRAER 170, EMBRAER 175, EMBRAER 190 and EMBRAER 195 – results in exceptional savings for carriers, in terms of crew training and the cost of spare parts and maintenance. Another key feature of the E-Jets is the state-of-the-art, fly-by-wire technology, which increases operating safety, while reducing pilot workload and fuel consumption.
The double-bubble fuselage design provides superior comfort and includes two main passenger entrances and two service doors, thus minimizing aircraft turn-around time. The E-Jets offer much more space for passengers, in a single or dual-class layout, than other aircraft with similar seating capacities. For more details, visit www.EmbraerCommercialJets.com.
The E-Jets have achieved outstanding success, with over 1,000 firm orders from 60 companies in 40 countries. More than 800 E-Jets have been delivered and have, collectively, accumulated 5 million flight hours and transported 200 million passengers, worldwide. This proven family is helping airlines to right size low load factor narrowbody routes, to replace older, inefficient aircraft, and to develop new markets with lower operating costs, greater efficiency, and outstanding passenger comfort. To better understand the benefits of these aircraft, when substituting older jets, visit www.eforefficiency.com.
