Embraer Commercial Aviation president and CEO Arjan Meijer has questioned whether turboprops can regain a substantial foothold with US airlines, as ATR targets the replacement of ageing 50-seat regional jets.
Speaking exclusively to Airliner World, Meijer identified passenger acceptance as a significant obstacle to ATR’s ambitions.
“I think the biggest issue in the US is turboprop controversy. People don’t like to fly turboprops, so I think that’s going to be a big challenge,” he said.
“I’m sceptical whether the US is going to move back to turboprops in big numbers.”
Embraer had itself proposed a Turboprop Next Generation (TPNG) family, comprising 70- and 90-seat variants. Intended partly to replace ageing 50-seat regional jets, the design featured rear-mounted engines to reduce cabin noise. The project was paused in 2022 because suitable engine technology was unavailable and was subsequently cancelled.
Meijer pointed to the Bombardier CRJ-550, a 50-seat version of the larger CRJ-700, as an alternative approach to serving smaller markets while offering passengers more space.
“You’ve seen the CRJ being used as the CRJ-550 in a 50-seat layout. People love that with a lot of space, full-blown layout,” he said.
He added that some airlines were extending the operating lives of their Embraer ERJ145s, rather than replacing them immediately.
ATR sees an opening
However, outgoing ATR CEO Nathalie Tarnaud Laude offered a different assessment in a separate interview with Airliner World. She described the US as a key potential growth market, particularly for replacing 50-seat aircraft.
Public charter operator JSX began flying its first ATR 42-600 in December 2025 on the Santa Monica-Las Vegas route. By the time of the interview, Tarnaud Laude said the operator had four aircraft, each configured with 30 seats in a premium cabin. ATR sees the operation as a test of US passenger acceptance of turboprops.
“This testing period is being watched closely because the question was, ‘is it possible to introduce a turboprop in the US?’,” Tarnaud Laude said. “The answer is yes because JSX’s customers like the aircraft.”
Expanding from JSX’s premium operation into services feeding major US airlines would require further work. ATR has outlined a proposed 50-seat, three-class configuration for the ATR 72, incorporating a front passenger door compatible with jet bridges. Tarnaud Laude said the manufacturer was assessing development costs alongside potential airline demand.
“For that to happen we really need to make sure that this aircraft is what the US companies will buy,” Tarnaud Laude explained.
ATR has been discussing the concept with US carriers, although she did not identify prospective customers.
“We have had some good conversations and there is interest, but we still need to see when this interest will be materialising into something much more tangible,” she said.
Read the full interviews with Arjan Meijer and Nathalie Tarnaud Laude in the November 2026 issue of Airliner World, on sale now.
