Brazil’s Embraer has given itself until the middle of this year to reach an agreement with its Chinese partners on adapting its assembly line in Harbin to produce 70- to 110-seat E-Jets. Projecting 50-seat ERJ 145 production to wind down completely in the first half of 2011, Embraer needs to know within a few months whether or not to launch preparations for a move to the larger airplanes if it expects to execute a relatively seamless transition.
“We think mid-2010 would be the deadline to start the implementation of the new tooling and training of people or to [head in] a new direction,” said Embraer executive vice president for the airline market Mauro Kern. Although he mentioned “other possibilities,” Kern chose not to name them. In any case, the manufacturer harbors no plans to build both 50-seat jets and E-Jets simultaneously, he said. The facility, as built, can accommodate just one assembly line and neither Embraer nor the Chinese have expressed a desire to expand it mainly because of the flagging market for 50-seat jets.
