Embraer has just announced two new senior management appointments. The company has looked outside the business and made an external appointment to the Chief Financial Officer’s position and looked internally to fill the Chief Operations Officer role. Both new appointments will come into force on January 1, 2020.

A report by Flight Global has Mr Nelson Salgado moving from the Chief Financial Officer’s position to the Chief Operations Officer’s position. Mr Antonio Carlos Garcia is coming from ThyssenKrupp to take up the Chief Financial Officer’s role.

Nelson Salgado has been with the Brazilian plane manufacturer for more than 30 years, His background is in engineering and this new appointment is just one of a succession of senior management roles Mr Salgado has held with Embraer.

Antonio Carlos Garcia earned his stripes at Siemens and ZF Group. He has an undergraduate degree in accounting and an MBA. Most recently Mr Garcia has worked at ThyssenKrupp where he was the Chief Financial Officer of the Forged Technologies business unit.

Appointments come at a time of change for Embraer

The appointments come at a time when Embraer is transitioning from being a Brazilian owned industrial powerhouse to having Boeing as a majority owner. The takeover was valued at USD$4.2 billion.

While there was some reluctance to sell one of South America’s few globally recognized brands, the Boeing deal enables Embraer to tap into Boeing’s sales and marketing heft and grow revenue. On the flip side, the buyout was designed to give Boeing a foothold in the small regional jet market - a place where Embraer excels.

Issues also arose over Embraer’s military unit which handled sensitive work on behalf of the Brazilian Government. There was some concern on Brazil’s part that Brazilian secrets and technology could find its way into foreign hands. Subsequently the commercial and defence arms of Embraer were split into two discrete businesses. Embraer is retaining a majority ownership in the defense business.

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Embraer's Super Tucano light attack aircraft. Photo: Embraer.

Embraer’s defense business has produced the Super Tucano light attack turboprop and is seen as a prized national asset. However, there will be some co-operation in the military sphere. Both Boeing and Embraer will work together to maintain output of Embraer’s military transport aircraft, the KC-390.

Tough and long negotiations

Earlier in 2019, Boeing’s Vice President for Latin America, Donna Hrinak spoke of the difficulties thrashing out a deal agreeable to the Brazilian Government;

“We worked together for almost 12 months to design a structure that would be acceptable, that will not infringe on Brazil's sovereignty, that will protect Brazil's own security and defence interests. We came a long way to be responsive to the Brazilian government.”

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Both new senior management appointments were made at a time of change for Embraer. Photo: Embraer.

The deal between Boeing came at a time when the commercial aircraft manufacturing sector was undergoing something of a shakeout. Airbus took over Bombardier’s production of the C-series aircraft and Boeing viewed the Chinese manufacturer, Comac, as an impending competitive threat. Donna Hrinak has previously said the Boeing / Embraer deal made sense in the face of a more crowded and more competitive market.

There is a range of fresh opportunities for Embraer and it is into this environment both Mr Salgado and Mr Garcia step. As an old Embraer hand, it will be interesting to see how Mr Salgado handles the inevitable cultural and corporate changes a takeover brings. As an outside appointment with minimal aviation experience, Mr Garcia too is set for a steep learning curve.

Simple Flying has reached out to Embraer for a comment on the new appointments but has received no response prior to publication.