E2

Brazil’s Embraer rolled out its latest product offering in late February, the first of its second generation of E Jets. Not surprisingly, there was plenty of emotion as the E190-E2 was slowly towed from a smoke-filled hangar into public view for the first time in the wake of a stirring rendition of the Brazilian national anthem. There was also some surprising development news for customers.

John Slattery, Embraer Commercial Aviation’s chief commercial officer, didn’t even try to hide his feelings – or his language – as the Brazilian manufacturer debuted its new generation E190-E2 at its base at São José dos Campos, halfway between Rio de Janeiro and the sprawling metropolis of Sao Paulo. “I’m going to sell the shit out of this plane,” he declared. The Irish-born sales chief could well have plenty to be confident about.

As his boss, president and chief executive Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, put it, sales of the original E Jet family, first entering service in 2004, recently topped the 1,200 mark and there are already firm orders for 267 E2 variants, with options on another 373.