Mauricio Botelho was appointed president and CEO of Embraer on Sep. 27, 1995, and has led the company after its privatization to become one of the world leaders in the aviation industry. Before joining Embraer, he was executive director of Cia. Bozano, a holding company with interests in several industrial and financial ventures. Before that he served in several high-level positions for a number of Brazilian companies involved in process-control systems for subways, railways, power systems and telecommunications and in industrial project implementation in offshore oil and gas production, steel-making and mining. He graduated in 1965 with a degree in mechanical engineering from the Brazilian National School of Engineering and also completed courses in finance and business administration. Attending his first NBAA Convention, Botelho took a few minutes to talk to NBAA Convention News about the Legacy, Embraer and his expectations for the next few years.
What led Embraer to develop the Legacy?
Our core competencies are in aeronautical engineering and knowing our customers’ needs, so the corporate aircraft market was a natural development. When we started the Legacy program, we had in mind a low-risk development for our customers and for ourselves. There are 1,200 EMB-145s sold and 620 in operation, so it is an already established aircraft. So the first point is that we are giving our customers confidence. They can trust the product.
