Founded

1969

Headquarters

São Paulo, Brazil

Key People

Francisco Gomes Neto (President and CEO)

Number of Employees

19,000

Phone Number

+55 12 3927 1000

Website

Embraer

Embraer Executive Jets

A division of the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer Executive Jets produces business jets spanning the light- to midsize-cabin categories.

Seeking to expand beyond its civil and military markets, in the mid-1990s Brazil’s Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica (Embraer) embarked on a business jet development program, and in 2000 the airframer introduced the Legacy 600. Based on Embraer’s ERJ 145 regional jet, the Legacy 600 entered service in 2002, and with prospects bright, the company established Embraer Executive Jets (EEJ) in 2005 and introduced the clean-sheet Phenom 100 VLJ and Phenom 300 light jets that same year. The flagship Lineage 1000, a 19-passenger derivative of its E190 airliner, bowed in 2006.

EEJ brought fly-by-wire to midsize jets with the launch of the Legacy 450 and 500 in 2008, and it opened service centers in Mesa, Arizona, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida that same year. The Legacy 650, an upgraded, longer-range derivative of the Legacy 600, debuted in 2009. A vote of confidence came in 2010 with a firm order from fractional fleet operator NetJets for 50 Phenom 300s and options on an additional 75—a deal worth more than $1 billion.

EEJ began assembling Phenom 100s at a new facility in Melbourne, Florida in 2011; it brought the assembly of Phenom 300s to the site in the same year and started making Legacy 450/500s there in 2016.

A fleet-refreshment program begat the Lineage 1000E (Enhanced), with upgraded cabin, cockpit, and range (2013); the Phenom 100E, with multifunction spoilers (2014) and 100EV (Evolution), with upgraded powerplant and avionics (2016); the Legacy 650E, adding synthetic vision and autothrottle (2016); and the Phenom 300E, with new interior and avionics (2017). Meanwhile, fractional fleet operator Flexjet added the Phenom 300 to its program in 2014, and the Legacy 450 and 500 in 2016. The Legacy 450/500 have been upgraded to the longer-range Praeter 500 and 600 models. In 2023, NetJets placed a $5 billion order for up to 250 Praeter 500s.

The Lineage 1000/1000E and Legacy 600/650 are no longer in production. Embraer currently produces the Phenom 100EV and 300E light jets and midsize Praetor 500/600.