Embraer and WDL Aviation GmbH, a German charter and ACMI airline headquartered at Cologne Bonn Airport and part of the Zeitfracht logistics group, have signed an agreement on a Flight Hour Pool Program to support the airline's recently leased fleet of four used E190s.

WDL, which becomes a new Embraer E-Jet family customer in 2019, leased the aircraft to replace their current fleet. They will start flying the E190s from March 2019.

The Pool Agreement, which will be in effect during the duration of the lease, covers access to a large stock of components at Embraer's distribution center in Paris (France), full repair coverage and a selected list of essential components, parts and services to support the start of aircraft operations.

WDL Aviation is a leading provider of ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, Insurance) services in Europe. With the Pool Program, part of the TechCare suite of services that Embraer offers to support the growing fleet of Embraer aircraft worldwide, WDL will have the flexibility to access the parts and support the fleet quickly.

"It's great to welcome WDL Aviation and provide efficient services and support solutions to their Embraer fleet. Our mission is to keep our customer happy every day and to also ensure the satisfaction of their end customers. This makes our portfolio the most competitive, setting the market's highest standards", said Johann Bordais, President & CEO, Embraer Services & Support.

"Support directly from the OEM is a huge advantage and we are looking forward to working with Embraer. This partnership fits naturally with the company's growth strategy as it leverages increased competitiveness providing repairable solutions through reduced lead times and costs, guaranteeing our daily operations and customer satisfaction", said Walter Böhnke, managing director of WDL Aviation.

Embraer's Flight Hour Pool Program, which currently supports more than 40 airlines worldwide, is designed to allow airlines to minimize their upfront investment on expensive repairable inventories and resources and to take advantage of Embraer's technical expertise and its vast component repair service provider network. The results are significant savings on repair and inventory carrying costs, reduction in required warehousing space, and the elimination of resources required for repair management, while ultimately providing guaranteed performance levels.

This Pool Program is part of a suite of services that Embraer offers or has under development to support the worldwide growing fleet of Embraer aircraft through TechCare, the new Embraer platform that assembles the entire portfolio of products and solutions to deliver the best experience of services and support.

Contributed by Embraer