Embraer became the second non-U.S. aircraft manufacturer to announce that it will build a business jet final assembly plant in the U.S. when it revealed plans to finish Phenom 100 and 300 construction at a new facility at Melbourne International Airport on Florida’s space coast. Honda–whose Honda Aircraft subsidiary is a new entrant to the aircraft manufacturing arena– was the first to make the move to the U.S. Honda’s plans mirror foreign auto manufacturers’ tendency to build plants in their major markets, and it appears that aerospace manufacturers are gravitating toward the same opportunities.
Embraer plans to ship Phenom components built at its factories in Brazil for final assembly in Melbourne, but the company will continue to build Phenoms at the Gavião Peixoto plant in Brazil, too. Engines and other vendor and supplier components will be shipped directly to the Melbourne plant if it is more efficient to do so than shipping to Brazil. Completions will be done at both facilities, as well. Buyers will eventually be able to choose whether to take delivery in Brazil, which involves a 1,200-nm flight back to the U.S., or from the new Melbourne plant. The Melbourne facility will include a customer design center where buyers can preview the two models, choose interior furnishings and paint schemes and take delivery.
