On the Record with
MAURÍCIO BOTELHO, PRESIDENT & CEO, EMBRAER

Embraer Pushes Its Legacy's Low Costs

"Extremely cost-effective." That's Embraer's compelling pitch for its new, up to 19-passenger Legacy business jet, the long-range version of which is expected to be certified in November.

Embraer, the upstart Brazilian that's emerged as the world's fourth-largest airframer and Brazil's biggest exporter, enjoyed a record year 2000, when it earned nearly $353 million on sales of $2.86 billion, both marking increases of more than 50% over 1999.

Most of the company's business is in regional jets. But 2000 saw Embraer's entrance into business aircraft, as just over a year ago at the Farnborough Air Show it launched the Legacy, a derivative of the ERJ-135 regional jet.

The Embraer message? Why spend $32 million on a Gulfstream IV when you can have a Legacy for $19.5 million?

It seems a very good question indeed.

Legacy, understates Embraer president and CEO Maurício Botelho, "will represent a significant value for customers." The new jet, while having somewhat shorter legs (3,220 nmi, compared with nearly 3,990 nmi for the GIV-SP), can do New York-London non-stop and New York-São Paulo with one stop, he says--just like the Gulfstream.

Long-range cruise speed is 425 knots versus 459 knots for the GIV. That's about 7% slower for an aircraft that costs about 40% less. Net cabin length is just two feet less than the GIV-SP--but at 39 feet is nearly half again as long again as that of the $21.13 million Falcon 2000. Interior volume of 1,410 cubic feet is said to be 60% greater than any competing super midsize jet. And, despite the space taken up by the executive version's range-extending fuel tanks, Embraer is claiming the largest baggage compartment of any aircraft in the category. "We are," says the Embraer chief, "providing a lot of value."

Botelho pegs firm orders for the Legacy at 36, including a pair of 19-passenger "shuttle" versions of the aircraft--without the extra fuel tanks of the executive model--that have already been delivered. There are about three dozen options as well, he says.

Embraer was arranging a dramatic flying exhibition over the Mississippi River in New Orleans, à la the Paris Air Show, by the first production Legacy when the September 11 terrorist attacks put the clamps first on the display, then on the NBAA gathering itself. Now Embraer is planning an October invitational event, in Fort Lauderdale, to show off the new jet with a full low-floor Nordam interior. A companion mock-up will display a recessed aisle configuration.

Embraer's phone has been "ringing off the hook" since the attacks, Embraer corporate aircraft VP Sam Hill told Show News last week.

"It's not the way you want to have business but I can understand the concerns of the flying public," he says.

The launch customer for the Legacy is Phoenix-based Swift Aviation, which has placed 25 firm orders with options for 25 more.

Embraer is prepared to boost Legacy output to four aircraft per month, but could turn out even more if it has to: even though it's a new jet, Legacy is based on an aircraft family with 500 units already in service, and another 800 on order, Botelho says.

The Legacy has twin Rolls-Royce AE3007 engines, with FADEC. The shuttle version has 7,426-pounds-thrust AE 3007-A1/3s and the executive has 7,057-pounds-thrust -A1Ps. Legacy features Honeywell Primus 1000 avionics, and TCAS and enhanced GPWS are fitted as standard. Hamilton Sundstrand provides the APU.

-Rich Piellisch