embraer erj-170-200lr 175lr

Northwest Airlink is the trade name of Northwest Airlines' regional airline service, which flies turboprop and regional jet aircraft from Northwest's domestic hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit, and Memphis. Service is primarily to small-to-medium sized cities and towns where larger aircraft might not be economical to operate and also to larger markets to either provide additional capacity or more frequent flights than could be justified using mainline aircraft.

Northwest Airlink service is operated using 34-seat Saab 340 turboprops and 50-seat CRJ200 aircraft in a single class of service. Mesaba Airlines and Compass Airlines recently began operating Bombardier CRJ-900s and Embraer E-175s, respectively. Both aircraft are operated in a 76-seat, two-class configuration.

Compass Airlines is a regional airline based in Chantilly, an area in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, USA. It is a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines that began flying a single Bombardier_CRJ200LR aircraft under the Northwest Airlink brand between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Washington, D.C. on May 2, 2007. Its main base is Minneapolis/St. Paul. On August 21, 2007, it began flying two Embraer 175 76-passenger aircraft, with a planned fleet of 36 aircraft by December, 2008.

The Embraer E-Jets are a series of narrow body, twin-engined, medium range, jet airliners produced in Brazil. Announced at the Paris Air Show in 1999, and entering production in 2002, the aircraft have been a success - as of June 30, 2008, there are 847 firm orders for E-jets and 827 options. The manufacturer reports 300 units had been delivered by October 24, 2007, and predicts that by the end of 2016, another 1,112 units will be delivered.

The E-170 family competes with regional aircraft such as the Bombardier CRJ-700/900, Bombardier Q400 and the Sukhoi Superjet 100. It also replaces older aircraft such as the BAe-146 and Fokker 70. The 170 and 175 are powered with GE CF34-8E engines of 13,800 pounds thrust each.

The Embraer 170 was the first version produced. The prototype was rolled out on 29 October 2001, with first flight 119 days later on February 19. The aircraft was displayed to the public in May 2002 at the Regional Airline Association convention. After a positive response from the airline community, Embraer proceeded with the launch of the stretched E-175 in June 2003. Certification for the 170 took nearly 2 years after the public debut; delivery of the first aircraft to the launch customer LOT Polish Airlines was in March 2004.

In August 2006, 20 Embraer 175-200LR (or ERJ 170-200) aircraft were in airline service, with 68 further orders. Major operators include Air Canada with 15 aircraft and LOT Polish Airlines with 18 aircraft. Major firm orders include 30 aircraft for Republic Airlines and 36 aircraft for Compass Airlines (a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines). India-based Paramount Airways has ordered ten 86-seater Embraer 175s.