It's easy to see the entire commercial-aviation industry through the dual lens of Boeing and Airbus â understandable as the US giant and the European mega-consortium divide about 90% of the market for jet aircraft.
However, there are two other plane makers of note on the planet: Canada's Bombardier and Brazil's Embraer.
Mind you, both are in the process of being absorbed by the Boeing-Airbus duopoly. Airbus has effectively taken over the troubled Bombardier CSeries, rechristening it the A220. Meanwhile, Boeing has bought into Embraer big time with a nearly $4 billion deal that's slated to close this year.
Like most travelers, I hate flying on larger narrow-body jets for the most part. But I make an exception for small single-aisle jets, which I very much dig, like the Boeing 717.
Recently, I made a quick trip to my hometown, Huntington, West Virginia. This a small city served by a small regional airport. For what seems like decades, I've flown in and out of Huntington Tri-State Airport on turboprop regional planes. But on my last visit, I discovered that jet service is back.
And the jet I wound up riding, the Embraer 145, was a winner. Read on to find out why: