Embraer posts a record $8.2 billion executive backlog as Q3 deliveries hold flat

Embraer’s executive jets are in demand and in short supply. That is good news for Embraer and a wait for anyone buying new. Its executive aviation backlog, the dollar value of firm orders not yet delivered, hit a record $8.2 billion at the end of the third quarter, up 12% on a year ago. The 12-month book-to-bill ratio, which compares orders with deliveries, is 1.4x, so orders are coming in faster than airplanes go out. In the quarter itself, the factory handed over 41 jets, exactly as many as a year earlier, so a backlog 12% bigger sits behind the same output. What those numbers can’t tell a buyer is how long the wait is for any one airplane. That is a question only Embraer can answer. Output is flat in the quarter and up on the year. Embraer delivered 115 executive jets through nine months against 102 a year ago, and the Phenom 300 line posted 20 in the third quarter, the same as in the second quarter and a year earlier. Embraer credits its production leveling program, which spreads deliveries through the year instead of loading them into the fourth quarter, for the year-to-date pace: 115 jets is about 70% of the 165-jet guidance midpoint against a five-year average of 60%. To land inside its 160 to 170 jet guidance, the fourth quarter still has to deliver 45 to 55, at or above this year’s best quarter. If you’re counting on a year-end slot, that is the number to watch. The Phenom 300EV, the latest evolution of what Embraer calls the world’s most delivered light jet, is where new-airplane timing gets concrete. Embraer announced on Aug. 25 that the jet has certification from Brazil’s ANAC, the FAA and EASA, the first light jet certified with Garmin Emergency Autoland. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2028. Anyone who wants Autoland on a light Embraer is looking at a start more than a year away. Maintenance coverage shows up on both sides of the market. Embraer says its Executive Aviation unit signed 69 Executive Care maintenance contracts worth about $53 million in the quarter. That averages roughly $770,000 per contract by GlobalAir.com’s arithmetic, though Embraer does not disclose terms or which models are covered. Anecdotally, the program is popular: all four Phenom 300s listed on GlobalAir.com cite Executive Care enrollment, each alongside an engine or maintenance program.Why it matters Orders continue to rise faster than deliveries, so for a Phenom 300 shopper, the number to crunch beyond the sticker price, is time. With a tight used market, options are limited. But an airplane that already exists doesn’t carry the same orderbook delay burden. All eyes are now on are the fourth-quarter delivery count, and whether Embraer starts publishing lead times. The cost of waiting is still to be determined. Browse current Phenom 300 listings or check the Phenom 300 operating cost report on GlobalAir.com.