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One year ago, a comparison of the passenger experience aboard Air Canada’s Embraer E175s and its new Airbus A220s revealed that the 20-year-old E175 was still performing well. This year, however, on a similar New York-Montreal summer trip, it became evident that Air Canada’s regional jet cabins are beginning to show their age.
A delay to an inbound 737 flight to New York LaGuardia led to a switch to an earlier E175 flight. The same E175 as last year was assigned for the journey. Despite plans announced by Air Canada to refurbish its regional jet fleet, significant upgrades have yet to be implemented. Over the past year, the seats have become noticeably more worn.
The E175 offers ample seat width but suffers from worn-out cushions that compromise comfort. The Thales inflight entertainment system provided content and USB-A charging ports, but the Intelsat (formerly Gogo) air-to-ground Wi-Fi system failed again.
