The Plane from Brazil
Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, each one she passes goes ”a-a-ah!”
She’s not tan and she’s not from Ipanema, but she is lovely and on the evening of October 30, 2009, a group of Corporate Flight Management staffers gathered on our Smyrna (TN) Airport ramp for a first look at this new plane from Brazil, an addition to the company’s charter fleet. And each one of us went, “a-a-ah.” She taxied in, bringing with her an exciting new future for CFM and our entire industry. But, before continuing with this story a brief bit of history is in order.
Over the past decade NASA and corporate aviation trade associations proposed a “clean sheet” design process for business jets. The VLJ (Very Light Jet) would be both fuel efficient and environmentally “green.” The quest to establish market dominance in this new technology led to intense competition among the leading designers and builders of executive aircraft. Additionally, new players like Honda (yes, that Honda) Adam and Eclipse joined the race. Most of the established manufacturers’ VLJ designs were primarily based on smaller and lighter versions of existing products. Two of the new entrants proposed radical departures from conventional airframes.
And then there was the Brazilian entry.
If you have flown on commuter airlines over the past 20 years, chances are that you have logged time aboard an Embraer turboprop or regional jet. When procuring aircraft for their fleets, airlines demand fuel efficiency, dispatch reliability, low maintenance cost and passenger satisfaction. For decades, Brazil-based Embraer produced a series of turboprops and regional jets that exceeded every airline standard. Brazil’s entry into the VLJ competition would be built to the same demanding standards as their airliners. Thus were born the Phenom 100 and 300, which brings us back to CFM’s Smyrna ramp and the exciting future for us and our industry.
You see, the aircraft that taxied up that evening was a Phenom 100, fresh from the factory and ready to begin its life with a corporate operator in the U.S. It is one of hundreds that will be going into service in domestic and global markets. I asked our CEO, Allen Howell, for his impression of the plane from Brazil. And he said:
“The Phenom series of executive jets will be real game changers for charter operators and corporate flight departments. As we grow our charter fleet and aircraft management businesses over the next 5-10 years, Embraer Business jets will be our number one choice.”
With Embraer’s range of business jets in development and production, the story should become very exciting, indeed. Stay tuned.
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