Here's some info from the Company's internal news written by Montie Brewer:

"We had some reliability issues with the Embraer 190, which affected the 190 performance and also took manpower away from other aircraft thus impacting the performance in the rest of the fleet. Some of the solutions that are being implemented to address this problem include a modification program for the 190s underway in Calgary and Nashville, and keeping a spare Embraer aircraft to help us maintain schedule integrity. Embraer has a number of people in Calgary to assist us with the mod program � the first phase of which will be complete by the end of March and this should have a positive impact on our reliability."

I flew AC400 yesterday morning on an E a/c (was too tired to pay attention). Just a smooth ride without any glitch...

This is not a surprise.

First/second buyers of a new aircraft type most always are the proverbial guinea pigs who experience various aircraft snags.

Aeronautical history is full of examples; to wit the classic 747 experienced early snags.

This is frustrating for the airline who experience reliability and dispatch issues and aggravating to the travelling public who are inconvenienced by requent delays due to mechanical/avionics issues.

However..that too shall pass as the snags are worked out of the fleet.

It would however be refreshing if AC could take a page out of US Airways communication with frequent flyers and acknowledge the problem and tell people what to expect. After all, it is not a safety issue but one of reliability of dispatch.

Its too bad this guy(gal?) whyfly doesn't see the benefit of AC showing their skirts a little and heaping some praise for them on an issue that is not AC's fault.

Momentum: Welcome to FT. You'll soon get to know some of the cast of characters hereabouts, and see why what you would suggest is very unlikely

Thanks for the welcome.
I've been lurking for some time now and realize that the cast of characters won't change but its worthwhile to mention the issue.

I was on an E90 flight recently from DEN to YYZ, and the in-flight Purser was speaking quite freely about Embraer reliability issues for "winter flying". In the FA's opinion, the Brazilian aircraft maker's planes were not well suited to winter flying in Canada.

This seems a bit bizarre and probably just attributed to one FA's bias, but his opinion may also have been shaped by the technical problems they are experiencing. In his words "the Embraer's are more comfortable than Bombardier aircraft for the passengers, but don't handle the Canadian winter very well". However, I think it is more likely teething issues with Embraer rather than any kind of inherent design flaw. For the record, I am pretty happy with the retrofitted Bombardier CRA 700's, finding them only marginally less comfy than the Embraer aircraft. And given greater fuel efficiency, I would rather fly in the CRAs.

SG

Aren't the CRAs new? (i.e., not a retrofit.)

Sorry for the confusion - yes they are new and no they have not been retrofitted. What I meant to say is I like the seats in the 700's that contain AVOD, which are a lot nicer than the "original" 700 configuration. For some reason, the first generation had really lame seats.

SG

This is heresy in whyfly's eyes! He hates AC as much as he hates BBD!!!

A large part of the plane's troubles have been tracable to the very cold weather we have been having. With temperatures starting to creep up, the problems have been diminishing. I wouldn't hestiate to book one myself. Basically, I like to do the opposite of Why Fly says. Usually works out much better.

Since OP cut & pasted verbatim from Monte's internal and presumably confidential message to staff, we can assume he must be gotten it from an inside source. Any repercussions against the leakee likely? Or is AC unlikely to bother seeking that person out?

FWIW, I don't have a problem with passing on verbal info from inside staffers as was the case just prior to the new elite package announcement because it's somewhat only speculation unless the contact is the decision-maker, so even the info is not always 100% reliable. We all know someone who knows someone after all. Also sharing publicly available information such as PR, etc., is kosher by me however I am much less comfortable with sharing word-for-word communications between management and staff. Just my two cents...

Isn't he just copying from our Oakvillain friend on The Place That Shall Not Be Named?

At the bottom of page 7 of that thread on The Place That Shall Not Be Named whyfly repeats Monte's message verbatim as was posted in OP of this thread.

Which came first the chicken or the egg? And what does it matter where the "info" came from or which sources did the telling whether it was an annointed Prince or not?
At least it's on topic to the AC forum ^ ! Hopefully AC can be more proactive about it's problems, on the face of things they still haven't learned this........