May Challenge Boeing, Airbus If New Engines Come Online

As the world's two leading manufacturers of commercial jets look towards revamping their most popular models, a third player may emerge in the narrowbody segment -- Brazilian planemaker Embraer.

Bloomberg reports Frederico Curado, CEO of Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA, thinks the company may explore larger aircraft than its current regional offerings, but only if a promised 'next generation' of engine technology comes to pass.

"If there is a huge change in the structure of the dynamics of this market, we will certainly look into that," Curado said in a recent interview. A decision now would be "premature," he added, as "there'd be no sense bringing to the market a product that will be similar to existing products."

Boeing currently dominates the short-range, single-aisle segment with its erstwhile 737 family -- which, in one form or another, has been in production since the late 1960s, and has garnered over 6,700 orders in that time. Airbus' A320 family has been flying for only about half as long -- but has still collected over 4,000 orders.

The largest 737-900 seats 215 passengers; the A321, 220. Both aircraft families are due for an overhaul, or outright replacement... but each manufacturer is waiting to see whether it can offer significant cost reductions in a new model, before committing to such programs.

Embraer's largest offering at the moment is the 118-seat Embraer 195, which -- along with its 170, 175, and 190 models -- has allowed the planemaker to surpass Bombardier as the third-largest producer of commercial aicraft.

That's an enviable position... but while Curado says the company must continually adapt to hold that position, like its larger competitors Embraer is adopting a "wait and see" approach to the single-aisle segment.

"A new engine technology, whatever it is, could be available by sometime in 2015 or 2016," Curado said. "Until we have this new engine technology, I don't see Embraer making any new decision about our program."

Curado had been Embraer's executive vice president for eight years,

FMI: www.embraer.com