Action Movie Star Makes An Appearance At NBAA 2013

Like many of the companies exhibiting at NBAA 2013, Embraer expressed some cautious optimism about the industry with at least the U.S. economy showing some signs of a modest recovery.

At the Embraer news conference Monday, Embraer president Ernst Edwards said that the company is estimating record annual profits from U.S. companies, as well as the highest number of "High Net Worth Individuals" worldwide in history. He said that the trend in business jet traffic is seeing an uptick in the U.S., though Europe "remains flat" in that regard.

Ernst said that Jetnet forecasts that the market for mid-sized business jets will be improving 33 percent over the next 5 years, and that all economic indicators point to a "slow motion" recovery. "The timing is right," Ernst said, "what is missing is a lack of confidence in the economy. The U.S. economy will dictate the recovery in our industry," he said.

Ernst said that Embraer projects that there will be 9250 business jets valued at about $250 billion sold over the next 10 years worldwide, "enough to keep us all employed, but we would like it to be better," he said.

The surprise of the event, however, was the announcement that action movie star Jackie Chan, who has been a brand ambassador for Embraer for the past couple of years, will be the launch customer for the Legacy 500 in China. Chan took to the podium for brief remarks, and then participated the unveiling of a model of the airplane with his distinctive livery.

Ernst also announced at the news conference that he would be retiring at the end of the year.

FMI: www.embraer.com