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On the Record With
FREDERICO FLEURY CURADO, EXECUTIVE VP CIVIL AIRCRAFT, EMBRAER
Embraer (Booth 5233) is promoting several major enhancements to its Legacy business jet, chief among them a service ceiling increase to 41,000 feet.
"This will bring the Legacy above airline traffic," says Embraer civil aircraft evp Fred Curado, who acknowledges that the current ceiling of 39,000 feet is "perceived as a limitation for the aircraft."
A service bulletin for the higher ceiling will be available to existing Legacy operators, he says. Cost is expected to be approximately $300,000.
The Legacy Executive is priced at $21.15 million and the Legacy Shuttle at $16.1 million. There are currently 39 Embraer Legacy jets in service, of which 11 are in Shuttle configuration.
The Brazilian airframer is also talking up recent clearance for Legacy to operate out of London City (LCY)—"an important market for sure," Curado says—and is promoting a new 432 kbps high-speed datalink for Legacy. It will employ the HSD 7000 system with low-drag phased-array antenna from the UK's Chelton to access the Inmarsat Swift64 network.
Legacy is also to come equipped with better cabin lighting, based on a combination of new LEDs and mechanical window shades that can be adjusted for UV protection—important given the roomy jet's 22 cabin windows.
Also new for Embraer at NBAA, as is Curado himself, who is attending his first this week, is a modular cabin interior designed to give customers more choices while improving efficiencies at the completion end.
Unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show this past summer, the new Legacy cabin features pre-certified components that can be arranged three-dozen ways with no need for recertification. "It's a new manufacturing process of the same interior which gives a lot of flexibility," Curado says.
Components like panels and cabinets are furnished by Duncan Aviation and Nordam. Legacy jets are completed by Embraer itself in São José dos Campos, Brazil.
Embraer's basic pitch for Legacy is that buyers get a large-cabin aircraft for about two-thirds the price they would pay for a comparably sized competitor. Being able to place furnishings where desired is seen as particularly important for an aircraft with a 42-foot cabin.
Other refinements unveiled at Farnborough include a redesigned valance panel, new seats, and remodeled arm ledges. Standard equipment includes two DVD players, two 15-inch LCD cabin display screens, Airshow 400 and Iridium satcom.
The Legacy galley can now handle hot and cold meals for 13 passengers, and the lav is larger. A second, forward lavatory may be ordered. The aircraft features a class-leading, flight-accessible, 240-cubic-foot pressurized Class C baggage compartment.
Legacy has demonstrated operating costs as much as 30% lower than those of comparable aircraft, Embraer says. Another selling point is Legacy parts commonality with the ERJ 145 regional jet series, of which some 700 are in service.
Legacy early this year won U.S. FAA and Brazilian CTA authorization to operate at airports up to 8,500 feet above sea level. Embraer also unveiled a revised maintenance plan for Legacy in April, reducing service stops to four per year, and shaving labor hours by 18%.
Embraer is further promoting the aircraft's drag reduction improvements, and uprated, 7,953-pounds-thrust Rolls-Royce AE3007-A1E turbofans.
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