Embraer S.A.
Aircraft Manufacturing
Embraer was born from a Brazilian government decision in 1969 to build a national aircraft industry from scratch — and it worked. Now the world's third-largest aircraft manufacturer, the company, headquartered in São José dos Campos, employs about 19,000 people and generates roughly US$5 billion in annual revenue from three businesses: commercial aviation (its E-Jets family is the backbone of regional airlines worldwide), executive jets (the Praetor and Phenom lines), and defense (the C-390 military transport and the A-29 Super Tucano).
Embraer's commercial strategy is to stay out of direct competition with Boeing and Airbus by dominating the 70-150 seat market, where its E-Jets carry passengers for airlines across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Its engineering strengths — fly-by-wire controls, fuel efficiency per seat, and short-runway performance — are the same skills its defense division applies to the C-390, which is winning export orders from NATO countries.
For aerospace supply chains, Embraer is both a major buyer of avionics, engines, and airframe structures, and a partner of choice for companies seeking entry into Latin America's aerospace industrial base.
