Embraer president and CEO Mauricio Botelho reflected on the events of September 11 and their subsequent effect on the world’s aerospace industry with a quote from Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara. “We must be tough without losing tenderness,” said Botelho during a lavish dinner affair the evening before the October 29 rollout of the newly branded 70-seat Embraer 170 regional jet. Some 1,800 Embraer workers laid off after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. felt the company’s capacity for “toughness” first-hand. So has Canada’s Bombardier, which lost its stranglehold on the world’s regional jet market not long after the Brazilian jet maker became a private entity in late 1994.
“Brazilians are experts at handling crises–political, economic and financial,” said Botelho. “We were never defeated. This crisis will also pass–in a shorter time than we can imagine.” Embraer customers canceled options for some 60 airplanes as a result of the recent industry recession. Although Embraer insists all firm orders remain in effect, it acknowledged “some shifting” of delivery schedules by a number of airlines, a factor that contributed to its decision to reduce deliveries this year from 185 to 160 and lower next year’s delivery rate from 205 to 135.
