The largest member of Embraer’s 170/190 family of single-aisle commercial jets–the 108-seat Embraer 195–took to the air for the first time on December 7 from the company’s production center in São Jose dos Campos, Brazil. The first prototype–a two-seat-row stretch of the 100-seat Embraer 190–validated systems operation and flight characteristics during its one-hour-and-56-minute mission. Embraer test pilots Glen Peach and Ricardo Noce manned the flight controls, while flight-test engineer Andre Celere monitored the onboard computers.
Perhaps the least conspicuous of the series despite being the biggest of the bunch, the 195 has not attracted a firm order since Switzerland’s Crossair played the part of launch customer for both the 70-seat Embraer 170 and 195 in 1999. Since assuming the role of Switzerland’s flag carrier in place of bankrupt Swissair, however, the airline now known as Swiss International Airlines has cut its firm order in half, to fifteen 195s and fifteen 170s, and reduced its option total from 100 to 20. It has also repeatedly delayed deliveries of its 170s until Embraer finally stopped considering the orders in its annual production rate forecast.
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