Brazilian manufacturer Embraer may have received a lot of upbeat publicity in 2009, but the company’s third-quarter financial statement shows it’s far from immune to the global recession. For the months spanning July through September, Embraer recorded net sales worth $1.246 billion; in the preceding quarter, net sales were $1.456 billion. And in the third quarter of 2008, net sales were $1.546 billion. This steady slide in income masks the increasing importance of executive jet sales in the past year. Without sales of Embraer’s Phenom 100 and Legacy 600, the financial picture would have been much worse.
Of third-quarter-2009 sales, 27 executive jets were sold. Among them were 22 Phenom 100s, five Legacy 600s, and one Lineage 1000.
Embraer’s commercial aviation segment accounted for 29 sales in the third quarter, with the 100-seat E190 regional jet accounting for the lion’s share with 17 deliveries.
This shows that business jets—which Embraer only began producing a mere seven years ago—now have equal importance in Embraer’s product mix. And the story is far from over. Embraer plans to certify the Phenom 300, a larger, faster offshoot of the Phenom 100, in December 2009. Design work on the Legacy 450 (what Embraer calls a “mid-light jet”) and Legacy 500 (a mid-size jet) continue, with first deliveries set for 2012. At this year’s National Business Aviation Association convention Embraer introduced yet another new business jet—the large-cabin Legacy 650. The Legacy 650 is aiming for certification in the second half of 2010.
Thomas A. Horne
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