No one said it would be easy, but Embraer seems to have hit its stride after struggling early on to meet development and certification targets for its new four-airplane series of commercial jets. Last year saw the program speed past a number of milestones, starting with the February certification of the 70- to 76-seat Embraer 170 and culminating at the end of the year with Brazilian approval of the 78- to 86-seat 175–the latest model of the new single-aisle quartet to pass muster with the authorities.
Flying just 450 hours in two prototypes before winning certification, the Embraer 175 differs little from its smaller sibling. The only real structural distinctions involve a pair of fuselage plugs fore and aft of the wing box and some minor frame reinforcements to allow another 2,000 pounds of basic operating weight. Both airplanes use the same GE CF34-8 turbofans, rated for between 13,790 and 14,500 pounds of thrust each, as well as all the same line-replaceable parts.
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