Despite the Iran war, the frequently pilloried European Union bureaucracy, and Walsh\u2019s displeasure at engine-makers\u2019 profit margins, the overall mood was defiant, even sometimes optimistic. After all, the industry just six years ago might have seemed on the verge of annihilation when Covid hit.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, Embraer hosted a trip on an E2 jet to S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 dos Campos. It\u2019s a city not big by Brazil standards but still home to about 700,000 people. It looks close to Rio de Janeiro on the map but is nearly 400km away.<\/p>\n
Embraer\u2019s factory, or campus, is a small city of its own in S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9, with more than 10,000 employees at the site, its own runway, and multiple hangars.<\/p>\n
The company was established in the 1960s, became a successful exporter, and stands out in a country where commodity exporters dominate. <\/p>\n
Embraer has had some success filling niches, especially for commercial jets up to 150 seats, rather than always trying to compete directly with Boeing or Airbus. But we\u2019re shown stages of the aircraft assembly process for Embraer\u2019s E195-E2, a member of the E2 family which competes with the Airbus A220<\/a>. <\/p>\n These aircraft are more often described as small narrowbodies, rather than regional jets. The A220 has five-abreast seating and the E195 has four-abreast. The new Embraer models seat 120 to 146 people and have ranges of 3000 nautical miles, or 5556km. If flying out of Auckland, then most of Australia including Adelaide and Darwin would be within reach, as would Tahiti.<\/p>\n As we move through one hangar, the company for the first time reveals a brand new Latam Airlines E195.<\/p>\n In many parts of the campus, photography is forbidden, presumably for commercial sensitivity or anti-corporate espionage reasons. But Embraer and the airline were both keen to show off the new aircraft, which is for the subsidiary Latam Airlines Brazil.<\/p>\n We also saw a new aircraft for South African airline Airlink, one for Azul Brazilian Airlines, which is based in S\u00e3o Paulo about 120km away, and another for Luxembourg\u2019s Luxair.<\/p>\n Embraer has distinct commercial aviation, business aviation and defence business units. <\/p>\n The Brazilian company brought its KC-390 to New Zealand in 2017. <\/p>\n Australian Aviation magazine said that was part of a bid to woo the Royal New Zealand Air Force, at the time looking to replace the C-130 Hercules and P-32K Orion maritime surveillance aircraft. <\/p>\n New Zealand ended up opting for a Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules<\/a> and Boeing P-8A Poseidon<\/a>. You can\u2019t win all the campaigns.<\/p>\n Embraer\u2019s commercial aviation headquarters are in Amsterdam and the company has important offices in Florida and other places but more staff in S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 dos Campos than anywhere else. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have today over 2000 e-jets in operation across six continents,\u201d Embraer chief executive Francisco Gomes Neto said. <\/p>\n This year it expected to deliver 255 aircraft, including military ones. The company\u2019s commercial aviation backlog is worth just over US$15b ($25.6b) but that\u2019s small fry compared to the trillion-plus Airbus and Boeing combined backlogs. Embraer\u2019s executive jet backlog is about US$7.6b.<\/p>\n Neto told a media tour group that Embraer was confident it was on the right path to sustainable growth.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are investing in increasing capacity, investing to make sure the supply chain will follow us in terms of volumes we need.\u201d<\/p>\n But he added: \u201cWe still have difficulties with our supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n Neto said the company wanted to reduce the time needed to make new aircraft.<\/p>\n That target was \u201cnot easy to execute but easy to understand\u201d, he said. <\/p>\n The tour heard Embraer\u2019s Praetor business jets now took eight-and-a-half months to make, down from 17 months previously.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big challenge we have is to bring more linearity in production and deliveries throughout the year. We still have high concentration in the second half of the year but 2026 is better than 2025,\u201d Neto said as he wrapped up his talk.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have engine challenges and now, of course, we have another challenge in the Middle East,\u201d said Arjan Meijer, Embraer Commercial Aviation president and CEO.<\/p>\n He said the E2 programme had 24 customers, with a link to New Zealand\u2019s part of the world through Virgin Australia.<\/p>\n That airline had three 100-seater 190 E2s. Those aircraft have 100 seats, with 68 in economy, 24 in \u201cEconomy X\u201d and preferred seating, and eight in business class.<\/p>\n Virgin Australia Regional Airlines last year said the 190-E2 seats were more spacious than the outgoing Fokker 100 jets, and the Embraer was fuel-efficient and had a very low noise profile.<\/p>\n Other Embraer commercial aviation customers are in the US, Latin America and Mongolia.<\/p>\n Meijer echoed Neto\u2019s words about having smoother deliveries year-round rather than a rush in one quarter or half. <\/p>\n He said getting more consistent output would mean more solid cash flow. <\/p>\n The Embraer leaders also spoke about carving out niches, or dominating segments where an airline might find other narrowbodies too big and regional jets too small.<\/p>\n For now, Embraer is a lot smaller than Airbus or Boeing. And it doesn\u2019t have a big presence in New Zealand.<\/p>\n But could that change?<\/p>\n \u201cOur industry is always full of surprises,\u201d Meijer said. <\/p>\n Embraer<\/p>\n Established in the 1960s as Empresa Brasileira de Aeron\u00e1utica (Brazilian Aeronautics Company).Privatised in the 1990s, it had initial public offerings in 2000 on the New York and S\u00e3o Paulo stock exchanges.Has Asia-Pacific offices in Melbourne, Singapore and Beijing.Makes aircraft for agricultural aviation, the military, private jets and commercial airlines.Expects revenues in the US$8.2 billion to US$8.5 billion ($14b to $14.5) range this year.Delivered 244 aircraft last year: 78 commercial jets, 155 executive jets, three multi-mission KC-390 Millennium and eight A-29 Super Tucanos in defence and security. <\/p>\n -The Herald travelled to S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 dos Campos from Rio de Janeiro courtesy of Embraer.<\/p>\n Embraer aircraft at the aerospace company’s S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 dos Campos plant in Brazil. Photo \/ John Weekes<\/p>\n
Embraer’s KC390 military transport plane. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The Embraer E195-E2 Tech Eagle, an animal-inspired livery. Photo \/ Embraer<\/p>\n
The Embraer logo projected onto Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) before the Iata summit on June 5 in Rio De Janeiro. Photo \/ Embraer<\/p>\n
The Embraer Praetor 500E. Photo \/ Embraer<\/p>\n
Even before the E2, Virgin Australia operated Embraer aircraft such as this ERJ-190. Photo \/ Ryan Fletcher<\/p>\n
The Embraer E-170. Operators include Delta Air Lines, which uses a 69-set configuration. Photo \/ Ricardo Beccari<\/p>\n