Review: Air Canada Express Business Class (Embraer 175)

Air Canada Express’ E175s (operated by Jazz) are regional jets based out of their eastern hubs, including Toronto and Montreal. After Air Canada changed my outbound itinerary, I was rebooked to a flight on one of these small planes, which were also one of my favourites to fly on, regardless of class or airline. Although a little outdated, the service and product on Air Canada Express’ E175s still beat other cross-border options in my opinion.

Booking Air Canada Express Business Class

Since I was being reimbursed for attending a conference, I wanted to maximize the number of miles I could count towards status for how much I was going to be paid back. My original itinerary towards Boston, booked well in advance, was composed of three flight segments: Vancouver to Edmonton, Edmonton to Montreal, and Montreal to Boston. 

However, Air Canada changed its schedule for the Vancouver to Edmonton flight, and I only had an hour to connect from the Domestic to the Transborder terminal in Montreal, so I was rebooked for a two-segment journey with a 6-hour connection in Montreal.

I was rebooked once again because the flight to Boston was supposed to be a mainline service on Air Canada’s A220, but presumably changed due to lowered demand for the E175. The new Vancouver-to-Montreal flight did not leave enough time to connect to the original 8:10 AM flight from Montreal to Boston, either.

Booking in Comfort Class meant that I had the option to move to an earlier flight for both departure segments; however, there were no reasonable flight options, as the departure before my first flight I was rebooked on would’ve meant that I would have a very short overnight stay at YUL, or the following flight would be arriving too late for the conference. Since I didn’t want to spend any more money after already achieving Marriott Titanium Status for the year, nor miss networking opportunities, I kept the rebooked flights.

To my surprise, one week before my outbound flight, Air Canada let me know that my e-upgrade had been accepted, even though I was only 35K before departure. In contrast, for my flight back to Canada, my e-upgrade was only approved just before boarding.

Ground Experience 

After arriving at around 6:00 AM, I had about 7 hours to kill before my departure to Boston. I wanted to take a peek into the brand new Aspire AMEX Lounge at Montreal-Trudeau after arriving in the domestic side; however, they enforced the 3-hour pre-departure rule. I also asked them if there were any restrictions on having a transborder flight if I had been within the 3 hours, and they said no problem as long as I was connecting from a domestic flight.

Thus, I decided to explore the city for a little bit, and after spending a few hours downtown, I decided that I wanted to make the most out of my ticket by heading to the transborder Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge for a quick snack.

Cabin Arrangement

As a regional jet, the Business Cabin is very small, configured in a 1-2 layout. The E175s are one of Air Canada Express’ older aircraft, with the old entertainment screens permanently switched off. 

Since my outbound flight had the e-upgrade approved so early, I chose to sit in seat 2A, a single seat closest to the front without a bulkhead. I’m not sure if it was a one-off on my flight, but only half the seats in business class were filled. Though on reflection, these E175s do have as many or more seats as some of Air Canada’s Airbus fleet, including the A220, and some A320s or A321s.

Seat

The seat has Air Canada’s old teal upholstery, with very worn-down fabric and cushioning. Legroom was what I expected, at a pitch of 38 inches.

The entertainment screens were turned off due to obsolete technology, including the USB charger, but at least the power outlet on the left side of the seat worked!

As mentioned, Air Canada’s E175s do not have the same updated seat products as their mainline fleet. However, this is set to change with upgraded seats coming to these jets starting in 2026. 

Although the seats were not updated, the overhead bins were, with enough space to stow my carry-on perpendicular to the aircraft. In contrast, my experience on Delta’s E175s only had enough space for one or two standard-sized carry-ons parallel to the aircraft, whereas these bins could fit three together. Keep in mind that the bins in Business Class are only on the paired seat side of the plane, so in theory, there is only enough space for about six to eight carry-on bags, with overflow going into the Economy cabin.

Dining

After boarding, all the business class passengers were served an orange juice or sparkling water. One significant advantage of taking Air Canada or Air Canada Express across North America over a US airline is the hot food service for business-class passengers, including on flights of less than two hours. The flight was scheduled for just over one hour in the air, but I was ecstatic about the offer of quesadillas after we took off. 

They definitely were not the best quesadillas in the world but after flying United First Class for over two hours just two weeks beforehand, it was nice to see some hot food offered in a regional business cabin, especially for such a short flight.

By comparison, on the return flight, I was offered a cheese plate with assorted meats and small veggies. 

There was no menu available on the flight, with just Quesadillas as the only option going south, and the cheese board going north, in addition to snacks available to Economy cabin passengers. 

Entertainment

Entertainment Console

As mentioned before, the entertainment systems on these planes have been switched off due to their obsolete technology, so there are no in-seat movies or TV shows. Unlike the boarded-up screens on the Air Canada Express CRJ900s, all seats in the E175 still have the IFE screens installed.

WiFi

Although Air Canada is rolling out Wi-Fi on most of its North American flights, it wasn’t available on either of my flights for some reason. It wasn’t a problem for me because the flight was so short. The E175s are supposed to be getting Wi-Fi installed, so my flights may have just been a one-off. As of November 30, 2025, 24 out of 25 E175s have Wi-Fi installed, according to Air Canada’s Wi-Fi connectivity tracker. 

If you plan to fly out of Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport for a regional flight, 9 of Jazz’s Dash-8 aircraft have been scheduled to have Wi-Fi installed, the only flights out of the airport with onboard Wi-Fi so far. Moreover, check out Danny’s recent review of the Aspire Air Canada Café at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ).

Conclusion

Despite the outdated seats, lack of in-seat entertainment, and an instance of unavailable Wi-Fi, Air Canada Express’ Business Class product on the E175s is still a decent option for flying across the border. The flight attendants were very attentive during the flights as well, especially given that we had just over 50 minutes in the air, minus take-off and landing. These older regional jets were never intended to fly across the continent, unlike Porter Airlines’ new E195-E2 aircraft, so I am totally okay with sitting on nostalgic blue fabric couches for just an hour or two. Moreover, the Embraers will continue to be one of my favourite planes to fly on, especially with the option for solo seats. 

That being said, I am anticipating the very soon cabin refurbishment for Air Canada Express’ Embraer fleet and excited to see seat and entertainment standards aligned with the rest of Air Canada’s updated fleet. Overall, flying in the E175 business class cabin with Air Canada Express is still a good choice in my books for regional flights.