Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Aujourd'hui 06:46

Embraer: The Latin American jets coming to CAL

Embraer SA is a Brazilian multinational aerospace corporation that designs and manufactures a wide range of aircraft. Embraer is the third largest producer of commercial transport aircraft worldwide after Boeing and Airbus, and the only manufacturer of commercial jet aircraft in Central and Latin America. The company participates significantly in military aviation, ranking among the top 100 defence contractors. Embraer is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, with offices and operations in China, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore and the US. Desiring to develop a domestic aircraft industry, the Brazilian government invested in the aerospace industry during the 1940s and 1950s. But, it was not until 1969, after a 1964 military coup d'état, that Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica (shortened to Embraer) was established as a government-owned corporation. Embraer's early growth was boosted by the Brazilian government's military aircraft contracts. It sold solely to the domestic market until 1975. While military aircraft made up the majority of Embraer's products during the 70s and early 80s, it pioneered an indigenous regional aircraft, the EMB 110 Bandeirante, which made its first flight in 1968, and the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, launched in 1985. Aimed at the export market, the EMB family of the Brasilia and Bandeirante was the first in a series of highly successful small regional aircraft. In addition to its own line, in 1974 Embraer was licensed by the US Piper Aircraft to develop, produce and market its light aircraft, as Brazil was one of the world's leading importers of small single- or twin-engine aircraft. Piper first put together knock-down kits in its US factory for Embraer to assemble and market in Brazil and Latin America. By 1978, most parts and components were being sourced by Embraer locally. Between 1974 and 2000, nearly 2,500 licence-built Pipers were produced by Embraer. Embraer started a privatisation process in 1992, alongside other state-run companies. It was sold to private investors on December 7, 1994. The Brazilian government retained control through the possession of golden shares allowing veto powers. In the mid-1990s, the company pursued a product line focused on small commercial aircraft over the military aircraft that had previously made up the majority of its manufacturing business. It soon expanded to produce larger regional aircraft in the 70-110 seat range and smaller business jets. Embraer penetrated the global commercial aircraft market by manufacturing its aircraft to the airworthiness standards of the US FAA FAR Part 25 – Airworthiness; Standards: Transport Category Aircraft and the European Joint Aviation Requirements for Large Aeroplanes – JAR 25. [caption id="attachment_1131649" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The LIAT 20 EMB 145 Jet arrives at Piarco International Airport on December 19, 2024. - File photo by Faith Ayoung[/caption] In 1989, Embraer launched the family of regional jets (ERJ) with the development of the ERJ 145. Its early design was a turbofan-powered stretch of the existing turboprop-powered EMB 120 Brasilia regional aircraft. Embraer prioritised the rapid expansion of the ERJ family, leading to the introduction of the shortened ERJ 135 and ERJ 140 in 1999. In December 2002, it entered a partnership with the Chinese aerospace manufacturer Harbin Aircraft Industry Group to jointly produce the ERJ 145 in Harbin, China. This production line was shuttered in 2016 after producing 41 aircraft. By this time, the ERJ family had been eclipsed by the newer and more advanced E-Jet family. This is a series of four-abreast, narrow-body, short-medium-range, twin-engined jet airliners designed to complement Embraer’s earlier ERJ family. With a capacity of 66-124 passengers, the E-Jets were significantly larger than any aircraft Embraer had developed. The project was unveiled in early 1997 and formally introduced at the 1999 Paris Air Show. In February 2002, the first E-Jet prototype completed its maiden flight, and production began later that year. The first E170 was delivered to LOT Polish Airlines in March 2004. Larger variants – the E190 and E195 – entered service later in 2004, and a stretched version of the E170 – the E175 – was introduced in mid-2005. The E-Jet series achieved commercial success, primarily due to its ability to serve lower-demand routes while offering many of the amenities and features of larger jets. The E-Jet family is used by both mainline and regional airlines worldwide, and is popular among regional airlines in the US. It also served as the foundation for the Lineage 1000 business jet, a variant of the Embraer 190 ERJ launched as a 19-seater private jet in May 2006. [caption id="attachment_1130188" align="alignnone" width="878"] -[/caption] In November 2011, Embraer introduced the second-generation E-Jet E2 family, powered by more fuel-efficient Pratt & Whitney PW1900G engines. But, as of 2023, the first-generation E175 remains in production to meet the needs of US regional airlines, which are restricted from operating the newer generation owing to contractual scope clause limitations. A scope clause is part of a contract between major airlines and pilots’ unions that limits the number and size of aircraft that may be flown by the airline's regional airline affiliates, to protect pilots' jobs at the major airline from being outsourced by limiting the regional airlines' passenger capacity. In August 2021, Embraer released a new-configuration aircraft with quieter, aft-mounted turboprop engines for a 70-90 seat aircraft, with the E-Jet cross-section, aiming for a 2022 launch and a 2027/2028 service entry. Embraer will be a formidable competitor in the medium-size jet transport aircraft global market. Its market outlook in 2024 forecasts world demand for 10,500 new up-to-150-seat aircraft over the next 20 years, with a market value of US$640 billion. Ageing-aircraft replacement will account for 54 per cent of all new deliveries, while 46 per cent will be used to grow markets. Delivering the 2023/2024 budget, Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced that the Caribbean has been exhibiting strong air transport demand, and in order to meet this growing demand, Caribbean Airlines Ltd intends to expand its fleet through leasing Embraer E-175 regional jets. LIAT 2020 uses the EMB 145 aircraft on its Caribbean routes.   The post Embraer: The Latin American jets coming to CAL appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.