Embraer Executive Jets flies first made-in-USA Phenom 300

Embraer Executive Jets' first made-in-the-USA Phenom 300 was rolled out and made its first flight today. The aircraft joined the production line in September and today's flight marks the anniversary of the maiden flight of the first Phenom 100 to be produced in the U.S.

Delivery of the light Phenom 300 is scheduled to go to the Embraer Executive Jets' Melbourne-based flight department which will use it as a flight demonstrator aircraft.

"This is a major milestone for our facility," said Phil Krull, Managing Director of Embraer's 23-month-old U.S.-based production facility. "The reduction in production time to half of what it took for the first Phenom 100 means the processes we put in place for production have now matured. We are now on schedule to produce eight per month in the coming months as and when we require full production capacity."

Embraer opened the Melbourne production facility in February 2011 and the nearby 58,000-square-foot Global Customer Center on December 5, 2011. In November, it broke ground, inaugurating the construction of its newest venture in its aeronautical campus, the $26 million, 67,000-square-foot Embraer Engineering and Technology Center USA, expected to be completed in mid-2014.

"The roll out of the first Made-in-the-USA Phenom 300 is another historic marker for our company," said Ernest Edwards, President, Embraer Executive Jets. "The $50-million development of our current Melbourne facilities, coupled with equally significant investments in manufacturing elsewhere, brings to fruition our goal of becoming a major, global aviation company. The investment we have made here in the last few years, at a time when most of the industry was retrenching, reflects the Company's commitment to bringing aircraft that are a breed apart in the business aviation industry."