Following parent’s big acquisition, Horizon Air makes largest order in history

  • The Seattle Times
  • Tuesday, April 12, 2016 12:43pm
  • Business

SEATTLE – Alaska Air Group’s Horizon Air unit has ordered 30 Embraer E175 jets to be delivered over three years starting in 2017, the company said Tuesday. The deal, which Horizon called its largest order since the airline was founded in 1981, also includes 33 options.

The order has a value of $2.8 billion at list prices, though large buyers often get substantial discounts.

Horizon said it will use the 76-seat jets beginning spring 2017 to serve sister company Alaska Airlines on “long, thin routes,” meaning routes that don’t have enough customers for a larger jet but beyond the range of a turboprop.

Eventually the planes, made by Brazil’s Embraer will replace 15 of Horizon’s leased Q400s, which are built by Bombardier of Canada. Those leases expire in 2018.

“The E175s position Horizon for growth beyond our current West Coast destinations while providing better customer utility in the growing Alaska Airlines network,” said Horizon Air President David Campbell in a statement.

It’s the second billion-dollar deal for Alaska Air Group this month. On April 4 it emerged as the winner in bidding for Virgin America, a $2.6 billion deal that was Alaska’s first acquisition in three decades.

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