Brazilian planemaker Embraer has confirmed that it would consider a new partnership with China, India, Russia and possibly other countries in relation to its commercial jet division as part of a revised restructuring plan after Boeing abruptly backed out of a deal.
Embraer Chief Executive Francisco Gomes Neto has said that the company is looking at a new five-year plan that would involve engineering and production. However, he was keen to stress that there have been no firm negotiations either with Russia’s Irkut, India, or China’s state-owned COMAC now that Boeing is no longer in the picture, despite the fact the company had just posted a first-quarter loss of US$292 million as a combined result of the Boeing fiasco and COVID-19 pandemic.
Embraer also confirmed it was seeking new liquidity. Reuters news agency has reported that Brazilian development bank BNDES is helping coordinate a US$600 million loan for the planemaker, which burned through US$677 million in cash in the quarter. Embraer is declining to comment on the arbitration process that is in place against Boeing over the cancellation of their deal. It had placed staff on paid leave in January in order to finalize the Boeing deal, the cost of which has made a major contribution to its 23% drop in revenue. Embraer has said that it expects to recover tax costs from Boeing that are related to the deal that negatively affected Embraer’s quarterly results.
