Board a regional jet with a first-class cabin at a small or mid-sized American airport and the odds are high that it is an Embraer E175. By the end of June 2026 the Brazilian manufacturer had booked 1,003 firm orders for the type and delivered 829 of them1. Eleven more left the factory in the third quarter, the highest quarterly E175 total so far this year, and Embraer still expects 80 to 85 commercial jet deliveries in 20262. Embraer says the E175 has won 88% of its market segment since 20133. For pilots the aircraft matters for another reason: for many US airline pilots, the right seat of an E175 is the first jet job and the moment their seniority clock starts.

Who flies it, and for whom

In the United States the E175 is mainly flown by regional airlines under capacity purchase agreements. The regional is paid fixed rates to operate the flights, while the network airline controls scheduling, ticketing, pricing and seat inventory4. SkyWest describes the product as low-capacity flights, usually of 50 to 76 seats, between the major airline's larger airports and surrounding cities, "usually in lower-volume markets"4.

SkyWest is the largest operator. At the end of 2025 it had 270 E175s in service or under contract: 121 for United Express, 87 for Delta Connection, 42 for Alaska Airlines and 20 for American Eagle4. By 30 June 2026 the number was 272, and SkyWest expects to have 300 E175s by the end of 20275. In July it agreed to buy and operate 11 new E175s for American, replacing CRJ700s, and it holds delivery positions for 33 further E175s from 2028 to 20325.

Republic Airways is the second giant. Its merger with Mesa Air Group closed in November 20256, and at the end of June 2026 Republic had 251 E175s and 55 E170s committed to its partners: 126 E175s for United, 79 for American and 46 for Delta, plus eight spares7. The merger brought 60 additional E175s flying for United, and Republic has 26 more E175s on order for delivery from 2028 to 2030. Its airlines operate about 1,300 daily flights to about 125 cities7.

American's wholly owned regional Envoy Air has flown an all-Embraer fleet of E175s and E170s since 20238. In June 2025 it added 33 new E175s for delivery in 2026 and 2027, taking its fleet commitment to 214 aircraft, 171 of them E175s9. In the Pacific Northwest, Horizon Air flies E175s for Alaska Airlines; Embraer's order book shows 50 ordered and 49 delivered, two of them in the second quarter of 20261.

Why it became the small-town jet

The E175 fills the part of the US network where demand is too thin for a mainline narrowbody, yet airlines still want a first-class cabin. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), the audit office of the US Congress, reported in April 2026 that regional airlines operated about a third of domestic flights in 2024 while carrying around 14% of domestic passengers10. Smaller airports have been losing flights for two decades: between 2000 and 2018, departures fell 47% at nonhub airports and 32% at small hubs, compared with 7% at large hubs10.

The retreat from 50-seat jets moves more of the remaining small-city flying onto the E175. When American ordered 90 E175s in March 2024, it said it expected to retire all its 50-seat single-class regional jets by the end of the decade and to keep serving small and medium-sized markets with larger dual-class regional jets3.

The very smallest communities depend on a federal safety net instead. Under the Essential Air Service programme, set up after airline deregulation in 1978, the Department of Transportation subsidises service to eligible places, generally two daily round trips with 30 to 50 seat aircraft, or more frequencies with smaller aircraft, usually to a large or medium hub11. From 1 October 2026 the maximum average subsidy per passenger for communities at least 175 miles from such a hub falls from $1,000 to $85011. In other words, the programme is built around aircraft smaller than the 76-seat E17511.

Scope clauses: 76 seats and 86,000 lb

The size of the E175 is set as much by labour contracts as by engineering. Pilot agreements at the large US network airlines contain scope clauses that limit how much flying can be handed to regional partners, and the ceiling usually cited is 76 seats and a maximum take-off weight of 86,000 lb, about 39,000 kg12. SkyWest says that because of its partners' scope limitations it does not operate any regional aircraft with more than 76 seats, and that each partner may also be limited in the number and type of regional aircraft it can use4. The E175 fits both limits.

Its successor does not. The E175-E2 seats up to 90 passengers and has a maximum take-off weight of 44,800 kg (98,767 lb), far above the weight ceiling12. In February 2025 Embraer's board approved an additional four-year pause in E175-E2 development, pointing to the ongoing US discussions with pilot unions about the weight limit for aircraft with up to 76 seats, to global market conditions and to continued US interest in the current E17513. Embraer said it expects to resume development after the pause and that entry into service will be rescheduled13. The result is that US regionals keep ordering a jet that entered service in 200514, with deliveries now booked into the next decade57. For pilots, scope cuts both ways: it protects mainline flying, and it also keeps a large and stable E175 fleet in place at the regionals.

What the E175 means for a pilot career

For many US pilots, the road to a major airline runs through a regional. GAO found that network and low-cost airlines hired more than 15,000 pilots in 2021 and 2022, many from regional airlines, and that regionals raised the average hourly pay of a first-year first officer from about $52 in 2021 to about $93 in 2024 to keep pilots10. A US airline first officer needs an airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate, which requires 1,500 hours, or a restricted ATP that allows fewer hours until that threshold is reached10.

The type rating is trained by the airline. Republic, for example, says its training centre has eight full-flight and eight static simulators15. Regulators treat the E-Jets as one family: Transport Canada assigns the single pilot type rating designator E170 to the E170, E175, E190, E190-E2 and E195-E2, with differences training between the variants14. Read more in how a type rating works.

Seniority matters at least as much as the rating. At a US regional your date of hire decides your base, your schedule and when you can bid for captain, and upgrade speed now feeds straight into the mainline pathways. Under United's Aviate programme, for instance, a pilot needs 1,200 or 1,600 hours as a captain at a participating regional before moving to United, depending on the entry point16. Envoy offers new first officers captain's pay once they reach 750 Part 121 flight hours, along with a 50% pilot supply premium, through 31 December 202617. See the difference between captain and first officer and how to become a captain.

Flow-through programmes, carrier by carrier

United's Aviate programme works with four United Express carriers: CommuteAir, GoJet, Mesa and SkyWest18. SkyWest joined in December 2025; pilots in its former United pilot programme were converted into Aviate and keep their conditional job offer as a United first officer16. United says it still hires first officers directly from SkyWest outside Aviate, and that Aviate itself is selective and does not guarantee interviews16. Pay at the destination is covered in United pilot salary, and at the starting point in SkyWest pilot pay.

Envoy describes its agreement with American as a guaranteed flow-through, with no additional interview, and quotes a starting rate of more than $90 an hour for new hires17. Republic, which flies for all three network carriers, says its pilots get immediate pilot-in-command time and guaranteed interview programmes that create an accelerated path to Delta and United, and it runs the LIFT Academy for new pilots15. Delta's own Propel programme offers a qualified job offer with Delta through its wholly owned regional Endeavor Air, after a single interview19; Delta Connection's E175s themselves are flown by SkyWest and Republic47. Compare American, Delta and Alaska pilot pay. Military aviators follow a different route, explained in our guide for military pilots moving to Delta, United or American.

Hiring in 2026

Mainline hiring has picked up again. Citing data from Future & Active Pilot Advisors (FAPA), ALPA reports that the 13 largest US carriers hired 3,863 pilots in the 12 months to July 2026, 74% more than the 2,215 in the same period a year earlier, with Delta, American and Southwest hiring faster while United is hiring at a lower rate than in 202520. Full-year totals were 4,834 in 2024 and 4,509 in 2025, which ALPA describes as a return to normal after the post-pandemic peak; FAPA's method can double count pilots who move between carriers by up to 15%20. US carriers employed a record 105,244 pilots in 2025, and SkyWest grew its pilot group by 6.2%, or 306 pilots20. Retirements keep the system moving: GAO cites ALPA data showing about 3,000 currently employed pilots at 20 carriers reaching 65 each year from 2025 through 202910.

"The major airlines are the first car at the stoplight," Tim Genc of FAPA told AOPA. "Until they move, no one moves."21 With SkyWest, Republic and Envoy all taking new E175s through the late 2020s, the aircraft will keep needing pilots in both seats. Current openings are listed on US pilot jobs, and the selection steps at SkyWest are covered in SkyWest pilot selection.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the E175 have 76 seats?

Because pilot scope clauses at the large US network airlines cap regional partner aircraft at 76 seats and a maximum take-off weight of 86,000 lb. The E175 fits both limits; the heavier E175-E2 does not124.

Which US airlines fly the E175?

SkyWest, Republic (which now includes Mesa), Envoy and Horizon, on behalf of United Express, Delta Connection, American Eagle and Alaska Airlines4791.

Is an E175 job at a regional a good route to a major airline?

For many pilots it is the standard route. United's Aviate, Envoy's flow-through to American and Republic's guaranteed interview programmes are built around it, but the terms differ per carrier and Aviate does not guarantee interviews161715.