An airplane that provides the luxury of first class and the efficiency of a regional jet joins the US Airways fleet, as US Airways dedicates the first of the airline’s new 99-seat Embraer 190 jets at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
TEMPE, Ariz. – The 99-seat jets feature 11 seats in first class and 88 seats in the main cabin.
„Our customers will appreciate the extraordinary comfort of the E 190 accented by spacious first class and coach cabins and ample head room. No middle seat means no customer jockeying for the armrests too,“ said Scott Kirby, president of US Airways. „From a business perspective, we couldn’t be more delighted with the scheduling flexibility that the E190 offers especially on routes served more efficiently with a smaller yet extremely passenger-friendly jet.“
With today’s announcement, US Airways begins taking delivery of 25 firm order E 190s with options for 32 additional jets. The first E 190 will begin scheduled flying in February from the airline’s Philadelphia hub to Hartford, Conn.; Boston; Dallas/Fort Worth; Providence, R.I. and Manchester, N.H. In an agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association and the Association of Flight Attendants, the aircraft will be flown as US Airways mainline aircraft by US Airways mainline pilots and flight attendant crews. This agreement has enabled the airline to recall 30 pilots so far and anticipates recalling another 60 pilots for the E 190 flying through 2007.
[GADS_NEWS]„We’re especially pleased that the arrival of the E 190 means we can bring back furloughed pilots to fly these aircraft,“ Kirby said.
„Our relationship with US Airways started in June 2003, as they were the first to order the Embraer 170 in North America,“ said Mauricio Botelho, Embraer’s chairman, president and CEO. „We are pleased to see the company offering their passengers an aircraft of superior performance and comfort and, at the same time, taking advantage of the flexibility offered by the E-Jets family with the consequent gains in operational efficiency.“
US Airways is the fifth largest domestic airline employing nearly 35,000 aviation professionals worldwide. US Airways, US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express operate approximately 3,800 flights per day and serve more than 230 communities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. The new US Airways — the product of a merger between America West and US Airways in September 2005 — is a member of the Star Alliance, which provides connections for our customers to 841 destinations in 157 countries worldwide. This press release and additional information on US Airways can be found at www.usairways.com. (LCCG).