Embraer and its Chinese partner said they might sign their first sales contract for their small jetliner with Chinese carriers by the end of this month.
Though the earnings release made mention of the small jetliner only in terms of how many it delivered last quarter 866, versus 91 in the year-earlier period), on a conference call with analysts McNerney said Boeing will soon make a decision on whether or not to boost production of the 737 from the 31 per month it currently produces.
A small jetliner made an emergency landing on Wednesday after a passenger looked out his window and spotted something alarming: fuel leaking from a loose gas cap.
After selling 1,000 of its E series small jetliners in the last seven years, it must now decide whether to re-engine, or develop a new, larger airliner to join the dogfight in the mid-size market segment.
Meeting with stock analysts in early December, company officials said that even with its stunning success selling small jetliners, Embraer sees military production as its fastest-growing segment the next five years.
The figures bandied about are extraordinary: the installation of the interiors, at $15m to $30m for "a smaller jetliner", can "rival the cost of the aircraft themselves".
The French financial markets regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, is investigating whether Mr. Forgeard, along with 16 other executives, traded on insider knowledge of those delays and others involving the smaller A350 jetliner.
Embraer, a leading manufacturer of small passenger jetliners and Brazil's biggest exporter, reported today that fourth-quarter and full-year earnings in 1999 soared to records on strong sales in Europe and the United States.
He said the craft would take about the same time to develop as a tanker version of Boeing's smaller 767 jetliner, which the company submitted as its bid last time — though the 777 version would cost more simply because it would be bigger.
Since then, it has begun investigations of near-midair collisions over Minneapolis, involving a US Airways jetliner and a small cargo plane; over San Francisco involving a United Airlines 777 and a single-engine propeller plane; over Houston involving a Southwest Airlines jet and a news helicopter; and near Anchorage involving a US Airways plane and a Boeing 747 cargo plane, among others.
Still, it seemed likely to revive questions about airport security, not only for passenger jetliners but also for small, general aviation aircraft.
