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By Karl Sinclair

July 10, 2025, © Leeham News: At a subdued Paris Air Show, Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer announced a firm order from US regional carrier SkyWest Airlines for 60 E175-E1 commercial aircraft, with purchase rights adding 50 planes to the order.

Embraer won a big order from SkyWest Airlines during the Paris Air Show. The E175-E1 is the mainstay of the carrier's fleet. Credit: Embraer.

This brings the total SkyWest backlog to 74 aircraft, for a total backlog of 220 E1 jets for the variant; 211 of those aircraft are for American carriers.

While the recent SkyWest order is undoubtedly welcome news, the problem is that the rest of the commercial aircraft division is selling and producing the follow-on variant, the Embraer E2 line.

The smallest variant of the E2 family, the E-175 E2, was placed on hold by the company until 2027-2028. This was due to the inability of American carriers to utilize the aircraft in service, resulting from the Scope Clauses with the various pilots’ unions. SkyWest once had a conditional order for 100 E175-E2s. The condition was that the unions would alter the Scope Clause restriction on the aircraft’s weight. The E2 exceeds the allowed weight by a few thousand pounds. The E1 complies.

Scope caps the maximum takeoff weight of an aircraft at 86,000 lbs, or 76 seats. The heavier and more fuel-efficient Pratt & Whitney geared-turbofan engines powering the type put the variant out of reach of US operators.

The commercial aviation industry is undergoing a transformation.

Carriers are opting for larger variants in a segment, as evidenced by the shift in orders at Airbus, away from the A320 to the larger A321 variant, and at Embraer, where the E170 is no longer in production. The dominant aircraft is the largest E195-E2, which accounts for 81% of all orders, compared to 9% previously.