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Panama Jack
24th Oct 2004, 09:08
COPA AIRLINES CHOOSES EMBRAER 190

First order in Latin America for new EMBRAER 170/190 family


São José dos Campos, October 19, 2004 - Copa Airlines of Panama announced today its acquisition of ten EMBRAER 190 commercial jets with an option for twenty additional aircraft. The airline's first delivery is planned for November 2005. The order is Embraer's first in Latin America for its family of 70 to 110-seat E-Jets, a new-generation of commercial aircraft featuring advanced engineering design, exceptional performance efficiency, superior operating economics, and a spacious cabin.

Copa is the undisclosed customer from Embraer's orderbook and therefore, the current order backlog is not affected by this announcement.

As the national airline of Panama, Copa Airlines has built an impressive international network in its 57-year history and established Panama City as the "Hub of the Americas" from which it serves 31 destinations in 20 countries with an all-Boeing B737 fleet. The new EMBRAER 190s will allow Copa to better match capacity to demand in small markets that can be more efficiently served by 100-seat aircraft.

According to Pedro Heilbron, Copa Airlines' CEO, the EMBRAER 190 offered the best solution to the company's future fleet requirements. "The aircraft fits our diverse operating environment and allows us to right-size aircraft seat capacity, improve service to smaller but important cities in our network, and add incremental frequencies and destinations as demand grows."

The airline will configure its EMBRAER 190s with 94 seats in two classes. "In our evaluation, it was important that the candidate aircraft offered a high level of consistency with Clase Ejecutiva, our premium cabin product. The EMBRAER 190's ample galley arrangement and wide cabin will give all our customers an unprecedented amount of personal space while maintaining the quality of in-flight service found on our larger aircraft."

The Copa Airlines acquisition of the EMBRAER 190 represents a departure from the single-fleet type philosophy of many airlines. "I am not only delighted to reveal such a prestigious and innovative carrier as our newest Embraer customer, I am particularly pleased that Copa shares our philosophy that there is enormous potential in capacity right-sizing with our E-Jets family," said Embraer President and CEO, Maurício Botelho. "Copa's decision is a testimony to the new market reality that one aircraft size no longer fits all."

One of four aircraft in Embraer's family of E-Jets, the EMBRAER 190 is continuing its flight test campaign in anticipation of certification by the third quarter of 2005, when the first deliveries of the model are to begin. As of June 30, 2004, the EMBRAER 170/190 family orderbook stood at 273 firm and 347 options.

The 70-seat EMBRAER 170 is currently in service with US Airways Express, LOT Polish Airlines, and Alitalia Express.

Embraer is world's leading manufacturer of commercial jets up to 110 seats.


http://www.defesanet.com.br/embraer/copa/img4.gif

I am particularly curious what effect this order will have on intra-Central American air services.

egpws
24th Oct 2004, 20:28
Hola, Panama Jack!

That´s very good news not only for the Latin American aviation itself but also for Embraer! Lately, with US Airways in very bad shape, Embraer suspended the production of lots of aircraft that were going to be delivered for US-Air. A great deal of Embraer employees were about to be made redundant ...

Personally, I have already walked around an Emb170 once and I found it very impressive; really good looking bird! Hope it proves to be reliable and economic as well!
Any way, that´s very good news for the Brazilian aeronautical industry!

Regarding COPA Air, do you know if expatriate pilots are also welcome there?? Are they currently hiring? If so, do you know what the requirements are?

Gracias y saludos desde Brasil!

Panama Jack
24th Oct 2004, 21:22
Hopefully the US Airways situation will not affect Embraer employees too much. I understand Air Canada just ordered some of the same Embraer jets, and the COPA Airlines deal should be a bit of a shot in the arm for Embraer. To me it represents a significant move since COPA Airlines has for many years been a very faithful Boeing 737 operator. I am curious whether anybody knows the economics of the EMB-170 compared to the Boeing 737NG's that COPA operates?

These newest generation aircraft are fascinating to me just because of how low their operating costs are, compared to older aircraft. This has become more and more significant during the last year as the cost of petroleum has risen significantly.

With respect to the pilot recruitment situation at COPA Airlines, I hear different things from different people. A few years ago I spoke with their Chief Pilot, Capitan Wong, and he said that they only hired Panamanians as First Officers but did contract some experienced ex-pat Captains on a temporary basis. I met a couple of them-- one of them a Costa Rican and the other a Canadian. Yet another person I spoke with said that a friend of his, a Mexican, was hired by COPA Airlines. Be aware that there is a pilot group in Panama that acts as a watchdog and gets upset when they see foreign pilots flying there, however, as one other pilot said "these are people who create their own problems . . . nobody wants to hire them."

Panama Jack
4th Nov 2004, 13:22
For what it's worth, rumor has it that COPA Airlines is strongly considering the Boeing 7E7.