I hope Embraer survive. If they can get through this, it is perhaps better for them to remain independent from the big two.
I have a few hundred hours on the older ERJ145, and always found the passenger experience on the current E-jets (170/190) a pleasant experience. But I don’t understand how a smaller aircraft will have advantage with lower loads. A 180-odd seat 737 or A320 with a 2/3rds load will surely have a better fuel burn per pax seat than a 100 seat aircraft (that burns perhaps 1/3rd less fuel than the larger aircraft) with a reduced passenger load. Especially as, with 2/2 seating, presumably the only option would be a half load.