A leading proponent of new technologies, always foraying into areas where it perceived a competitive advantage, Embraer today has become one of the companies driving the aircraft industry. Its range of E-Jets series regional airliners address the needs of customers spread across six continents.

Empresa Brasileirade Aeronáutica S.A. (Brazilian Aeronautics Company) or Embraer for short, was established in 1969 as a state-owned venture and was subsequently privatised in 1994. With its headquarters at São José dos Campos, Brazil, and subsidiaries in China, France, Portugal, Singapore and the United States, today Embraer not only dominates the aerospace sector in Brazil but is also the third largest manufacturer of commercial aircraft in the world. The company has maintained a strong focus on the market for regional jets that has high growth potential and which constitutes 40 per cent of the commercial aircraft segment in the United States and Europe. Regional aviation is a sector that is often misunderstood and frequently overlooked amid the publicity generated by large size airliners.

A leading proponent of new technologies, always foraying into areas where it perceived a competitive advantage, Embraer today has become one of the companies driving the aircraft industry. Its range of E-Jets series regional airliners address the needs of customers spread across six continents and with these world-class products that are the market leader worldwide in their segment, the company has earned its place on the global scene. Renowned for its innovative and popular models ranging from the ERJ 145 to the Embraer 170/190 families that offer a low-cost option through a high degree of commonality amongst the different models, Embraer has grown into a position from where it can only grow further and continue to dominate the global regional aviation scene. The company should serve as a model for any nation aspiring to develop a domestic aerospace industry to support civil aviation. The Indian aerospace industry certainly has plenty of lessons to learn from the Embraer experience.

Embraer in Regional Aviation

While airlines in the more developed markets of North America and Europe recognised the capacity gap between 50-seat regional jets and 150-seat single-aisle narrow bodies long back, airlines in most other parts of the world are only now beginning to understand the potential of 70- to 120-seat jets in their networks. E-Jets now operate in ways no traditional regional jet ever could—on short legs or long five-hour legs and in single or multi-class configuration. In fact, there is very little that E-Jets have not accomplished yet in the 70- to 120-seat category. The interest in E-Jets is truly going global. In 2005, over 90 per cent of the order backlog with Embraer was from carriers in the US and Europe but by the end of last year, over 40 per cent of the backlog was from airlines outside these two regions. Today, E-Jets from Embraer have emerged as the best solution for the regional aviation market.

Regional aviation jets originate flights from smaller cities and airports that feed passengers to main flights in larger airports that serve as hubs, thus providing connectivity between secondary and tertiary markets. Embraer today has a family of aircraft specifically designed for markets that are best served with 70- to 120-seat jets. In the commercial jet segment, Embraer has a 92 per cent share of all delivered aircraft in Asia till date. Competitors have received orders for their airplanes in the same category and of the same capacity; but none have been delivered to Asian carriers as yet. Embraer’s E-Jets are proven in their ability and have reached a respectable level of maturity.

Embraer’s E-Jets are a new class of equipment that spans all business models ranging from low-cost or lowfare, traditional mainline to regional point-to-point service. The diversity of its application across a range of business models is one attribute of the E-Jet platform that makes it so attractive to airlines and lessors alike, as optimal fleet performance has become crucial to profitability. While 40 per cent of E-Jets are deployed on regional routes with regional carriers, 38 per cent are configured to mainline standards with premium cabins and in-flight entertainment systems. The remaining 22 per cent of the world fleet is flying with low-cost carriers who have discovered that one aircraft size no longer fits all.

Embraer’s regional jets have indeed been well received as would be evident from the numbers that speak for themselves. In just eight years, the company has accumulated orders for 1,100 E-Jets and will deliver the 900th aircraft later this year, a real success story for the Brazilian aerospace major. Some 61 airlines in 41 countries have chosen Embraer E-Jets for regional aviation including some well-known carriers in the world such as British Airways, Lufthansa, United, Japan Airlines, Air France/KLM and Air Canada. The huge international and varied clientele that Embraer has reflects the quality of its airplanes. It also goes to show that the regional jets produced by Embraer have established themselves as essential tools for the development of aviation, worldwide. E-Jets deliver a superior passenger experience with a level of cabin comfort and personal space that is as good as or even better than many larger narrow-body jets. The 70- to 120-seat E-Jets have a strategic function in airline companies, helping them to maintain their competitive edge. Embraer has more than 40 years of experience in commercial aviation and has an established network of customer support and authorised service centres all over the world.

Addressing Environmental Concerns

In conformity with the demands of the times, Embraer has been sustaining efforts to address the ever growing concerns in the world community about the adverse impact of aviation on the environment, leading to climate change. The company has recently announced that it is working on a series of enhancements that will see reductions in fuel burn and operating cost on their E-Jets and consequently cut emission of greenhouse gases. In respect of overall fleet age, the E-Jets family is relatively young, the average age of the world fleet being just four years, yet Embraer is continually investing in technology to ensure that their E-Jet platform is in a position to meet the demands and challenges of not only the market but also those of the environment. It is already developing plans for a new generation of E-Jets that will adopt additional technologies that will keep the platform competitive well into the next decade.

There are other initiatives on the environment front as well. Embraer has also partnered with GE and Amyris to test the viability of biofuel having conducted a test flight in July this year using fuel derived from fermented sugarcane. The AMJ700 biofuel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 82 per cent compared to current fossil-derived fuel.