Andrew Downie-Financial Times, 11/16/09
Brazil’s Embraer has undergone many transformations in its 40-year history. First it was state-owned and now it is privately run. It started out making small transport aircraft used by soldiers, businessmen and Amazonian ranchers. Now it is one of the world’s leading producers of executive jets and regional airliners.
Today, with the airline industry in crisis, Embraer is looking to diversify further, this time by grabbing a share of Brazil’s growing military budget as well as increasing its share of the world’s personal jet market.
“The tendency is that the defence and executive sectors will grow to be more important than they are today,” said Federico Fleury Curado, Embraer’s president and chief executive.
