The Boeing and Embraer partnership in the works since last year has now got a new name:  Boeing Brasil – Commercial, as revealed by SamChui at Boarding Area.Embraer SaleThis partnership will see Boeing taking 80% of Embraer's commercial jet division, and be able to sell the aircraft as part of the Boeing lineup. The headquarters of the company will remain in San Jose, Brazil.

What is the partnership between Boeing and Embraer?

Embraer is one of the big four aerospace manufacturers in the world, next to giants Airbus and Boeing, and smaller rival Bombardier. Whilst Embraer has never really competed directly with Boeing or Airbus, they have been locked in a fierce battle with Bombardier in the market of commercial aircraft seating fewer than 150 passengers.

Boeing was interested in moving into the market segment (which has seen rapid growth and to prevent a southern hemisphere rival from entering their own market one day) but did not want to commit resources into developing and creating new smaller aircraft (which would sell for less). So why not simply buy up an existing firm?

An Embraer E190-E2 in flight.
An Embraer E190-E2 in flight. Image Source: Embraer.

That left them with only two choices, Bombardier (which Boeing fought tooth and nail to prevent their A220 entering the US market) or Embraer, a popular manufacturer that currently is not allied with either firm. Thus the selection made, an offer of $4.2 billion presented and then Boeing Brasil – Commercial was born.

It is unknown at this time if Boeing plans on replacing the names and branding of the Embraer lineup with their own Boeing 7 Series name (which would be interesting, as they don't actually have any 7X7 prefixes left) like Airbus did with the CS/A220 series. The brand Embraer does still have a place in the world, specifically in private, government and military contracts.

Industry commentators have likened the partnership between the two firms as a parallel to the recent partnership between Airbus and Bombardier, which brought the excellent A220 aircraft to the United States.

What aircraft does Embraer build?

Embraer Commercial, the division of the Brazilian aerospace company, builds a variety of commercial aircraft seating up to around 150 passengers.

They are:

  • Embraer ERJ family
    • Embraer ERJ 135 (37 passengers)
    • Embraer ERJ 140 (44 passengers)
    • Embraer ERJ 145 (50 passengers)
  • Embraer E-Jet family - the most popular line of aircraft with over 1,500 built.
    • Embraer 170 (66–78 passengers)
    • Embraer 175 (76–88 passengers)
    • Embraer 190 (96–114 passengers)
    • Embraer 195 (100–124 passengers)
  • Embraer E-Jet E2 family - the next generation of E-Jet, to be built in conjunction with the original E-Jet in the same factory.
    • Embraer 175-E2 (80–90 passengers)
    • Embraer 190-E2 (97–114 passengers)
    • Embraer 195-E2 (120–146 passengers)

These aircraft are often compared to Bombardiers/Airbus' A220 series.

As you can see, from Embraers lineup alone they are an in an excellent position to take on rivals and continue to dominate the market. The fact that Embraer can build these aircraft so rapidly (eight aircraft of each of the three families a month from the same factory) and with such consistent quality is a testament to their operation.

The Embraer E195-E2
The Embraer E-Jet E2 family. Image Source: Embraer

The company is also rumored to be working on a bigger jet aircraft (with a military application already announced), a project that Boeing may or may not support.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!