Embraer celebrates 55 years
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Source: Business Air News
Embraer is celebrating its 55th anniversary. With 9,000 aircraft produced and delivered to more than 100 countries and a modern portfolio of products, the company has currently registered over 800 patents. These, together with several other initiatives, drive the virtuous cycle of continuous innovation capable of transforming knowledge into industrial activity with high-added value.
“The Brazilian aeronautical industry is a global reference, and we are proud to celebrate Embraer and its history of achievements. We have been producing aircraft for 55 years, developing cutting-edge technology, training highly qualified people and contributing to the development of society,” says president and CEO Francisco Gomes Neto. “We look to the future with confidence in the ability of our people to carry forward this legacy with efficiency, quality, innovation, social responsibility and a commitment to a more sustainable aviation.”
In full integration and with intense knowledge exchange between all its business units (Commercial Aviation, Executive Aviation, Defense & Security, and Services & Support), the company has built a successful trajectory guided by the training and qualification of people, technological development, innovation, identification of market opportunities, strategic planning, determination and creativity.
In 2024, Embraer has been executing its plan to meet the aircraft production ramp-up and future growth expected with investments, which includes research and development activities for new technologies.
The development of a competitive aeronautics industry in Brazil began in the 1930s with initiatives from the government and private sector. However, the conception of the project to create the Aeronautics Technical Center (CTA) and the Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA) by the Ministry of Aeronautics and led by Air Marshal Casimiro Montenegro Filho in the 1940s established the strategic guidance for the solidity of the sector, with a focus on training engineers and technological development.
The purpose of establishing a company capable of transforming science and technology into engineering and industrial capacity became a reality on 19 August, 1969 by Decree-Law No 770, which created Embraer, a mixed-capital company with state control. The first mission was to conduct the improvement, certification and serialised production of the IPD 6504 project that gave rise to the EMB-110 Bandeirante aircraft, under the leadership of the engineer Ozires Silva at CTA.
In January 1970, Embraer began its industrial operations in the town of São José dos Campos, with additional orders from the Brazilian government to produce the Italian military jet Xavante and the new EMB-200 Ipanema crop-duster. In its first decade of existence, the company promoted key contributions to national integration through the Bandeirante aircraft, which strengthened the regional aviation sector, developed the executive turboprop aircraft EMB-121 Xingu and began its first exports.
In the 1980s, with a growing international presence and consolidating itself as a strategic company for Brazil, Embraer achieved technological leaps and innovated in the development of new products such as the EMB-312 Tucano military training turboprop, the 30 seater commercial aircraft EMB-120 Brasilia and the subsonic jet AMX in a cooperation between Brazil and Italia.
An intense period of financial turbulence marked the beginning of the 1990s and resulted in the company privatisation in December 1994. The combination of a culture of technical excellence with a culture of business agility gave the new organisation a push to quickly recover and regain its leadership position in regional aviation, with the start of deliveries of the ERJ-145 family of jets, with a capacity of 37 to 50 seats, in 1996.
At the turn of the 2000s, Embraer was among the largest Brazilian exporters and accelerated the development of a new family of commercial aircraft, the E-Jets, which would consolidate the company as a leader in the up to 150 seats segment. Listed on the São Paulo and New York stock exchanges, with production lines in Brazil and China, the company's global expansion followed a diversification strategy that established the executive aviation division by launching the Legacy 600/650, Phenom 100, Phenom 300, Lineage 1000, and Legacy 450/500 business jets. In the Defense area, the new EMB-314 Super Tucano light attack and trainer began operations in the colours of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) and began studies for a multi-mission aircraft, the C-390. In the same decade, the company also developed the EMB-202A Ipanema, powered by ethanol, the first aircraft in the world certified and mass-produced to fly on biofuel and certified in 2004. It also founded the Embraer Institute to conduct the company's social actions in a structured manner, focusing mainly on education.
Since 2010, Embraer has experienced a strong internationalisation process, with industrial activities now consolidated in Brazil, the US, Portugal and Mexico. Also, the company has promoted the expansion of its service and support network under a dedicated business unit and consolidated the defence and security area to develop projects on land, sea, space and cybersecurity through acquisitions and the formation of strategic technology companies. In the second half of the decade, new products arrived on the market, such as the second-generation E-Jets, the E2, the Praetor 500 and Praetor 600 mid-size executive jets and the C-390, developed under sophisticated FAB requirements.
In 2020, innovation, sustainability and business efficiency led the company's recovery in the face of the unprecedented impact of the pandemic on the global air transport industry. In a more inclusive and diverse manner, while maintaining high standards of corporate governance, the successful execution of the strategic plan enabled the start of a new cycle of growth and profitability, with the resumption of commercial activity in all business units, creating value for society as a whole. Disruptive projects and partnerships also enabled the beginning of new businesses and the creation of Eve, designed to accelerate the development of the urban air mobility ecosystem.
Today, with a backlog valued at US$21.1 billion, more than 19,000 employees and a truly global presence, Embraer is strengthening its position as a competitive company focused on building the sustainable aviation of the future.
As part of the celebration, the OEM has unveiled a new entrance gate at its main industrial complex, the Ozires Silva Unit, in São José dos Campos. The eight meter-wide entrance features a historic EMB-110 Bandeirante aircraft suspended at 10 metres high, positioned for permanent display closer to the avenue that gives access to the factory and the city's airport.
“The new portal represents the take off of a dream that became a reality, thanks to the efforts of a group of visionaries who believed that it was possible for Brazil to build its own aircraft,” says Luis Carlos Marinho, executive vice president and COO at Embraer. “The Bandeirante aircraft is a historic symbol of the company, and we are very happy to position it as a monument at the company's main entrance in order to inspire our people and the community of São José dos Campos.”
The architectural design enhances both safety and comfort for accessing the company while integrating with the local landscape. This allows the public to appreciate the design and strengthens the connection with the community.
The first Embraer factory, which in 2021 was renamed Ozires Silva unit in honour of the engineer and former Air Force officer who led the group of visionaries responsible for creating the company in 1969, was the production site for the company's historic aircraft such as the Bandeirante, Xavante, Ipanema, Xingu, Brasília, Tucano, AMX, the ERJ-145 family and executive jets. Currently, it mainly focuses on the development, manufacturing and support activities of the E-Jets E1 and E2 family of commercial jets.
