Things in the Sky

Sorry for the late post! I started it early this morning as usual but the day just ran away from me. Southwest announced a partnership with Mexican carrier Volaris today. I’ll write on that tomorrow. Now to today’s regularly-scheduled post:

This was a story from last week but I still wanted to cover it. Reuters reports:

Brazil’s Embraer is considering whether to develop a slightly bigger commercial plane to target a market niche in between regional jets and the larger airliners made by Boeing Co. and Airbus, a company executive said on Tuesday.

From reading the article it seems that Embraer is thinking of an aircraft in the size range of the CSeries, and I think the sales of that aircraft will affect what Embraer does. So far, only Lufthansa has made anything resembling a committment for that aircraft.

Personally I would love to see Embraer make an aircraft that would directly compete with the 737 and A320 families rather than be in between RJs and those aircraft, simply because it would mean more competition. If there were three (or four) companies competing in this area I think there would be some very interesting results. I think the other vendors are aware of this. This is pure speculation on my part, but look at this paragraph from the news article:

In a news conference in Sao Paulo on Monday, Airbus Chief Executive Thomas Enders said that the European manufacturer was open to developing a plane with Embraer in the future. Enders was scheduled to visit Embraer’s main factory in Sao Jose dos Campos on Tuesday.

But I also think if Embrarer were to make an aircraft for that market it would be in good shape. Right now Boeing and Airbus are busy working on the 787, 747-8, and A350 (respectively). Embraer could try to enter the market before Boeing and Airbus release their replacements. At the same time, that run the risks that Boeing’s and Airbus’ new aircraft could be more technologically advanced.

But again, just my thinking. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing how Embraer and Brazil grow in the future. I really do think Brazil is one of the most exciting emerging markets out there.