American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) has firmed up ten E175 purchase rights for its Envoy Air (MQ, Dallas/Fort Worth) unit. Embraer (EMB, São José dos Campos Professor Urbano Ernesto Stumpf) said in a statement the aircraft, which are part of an American Airlines order placed in 2013, will add to the four ordered in April. Deliveries of the jets will begin in 2018 and continue through mid-2019.
The aircraft will be configured with twelve First Class, twenty Main Cabin Extra, and 44 Main Cabin seats, for a total of seventy-six seats.
Combined with the airline’s two previous EMB-175 orders, American Airlines is now expecting a total of seventy-four of the type from the Brazilian airframer.
Meanwhile, American Airlines has announced the closure of its St. Louis Lambert International pilot base from September 2018 onwards. According to the Dallas News, the move is as a result of American further reducing its McDonnell Douglas fleet based out of the Missouri gateway.
The change will affect 180 pilots based in St. Louis but it will not lead to the loss of any jobs as affected personnel have been offered employment elsewhere in American's network.
The affected pilots previously worked for TWA - Trans World Airlines (St. Louis Lambert International), which operated a major hub at St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Following its acquisition by American Airlines in 2001, TWA's St. Louis hub was closed in 2003.
