The article published by Bloomberg last week, pointing out Embraer Phenom 300 executive jet as the most flown in the USA in the last 12 months, had repercussions in the media.
Using data from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), the outlet found that the Brazilian light business jet had surpassed the Cessna Citation Excel in number of operations (takeoffs) between August 2022 and July 2023.
In fact, the Embraer aircraft surpassed the Textron Aviation model for the first time, registering 360,334 operations against 358,946 for the Excel family.
The milestone, however, was expected as the Excel and its successors, the XLS and XLS+, are being replaced by the Ascend model.
| Model | ICAO | July 2023 | July 2022 | Dif. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phenom 300 | E55P | 360.334 | 356.378 | 3.956 |
| Citation Excel/XLS/XLS+ | C56X | 358.946 | 387.598 | -28.652 |
| Citation Latitude | C68A | 259.756 | 252.258 | 7.498 |
| Challenger 350 | CL35 | 240.552 | 232.254 | 8.298 |
| Hawker 800 750 / 850 / 900 | H25B | 208.368 | 245.404 | -37.036 |
| Citation CJ3 | C25B | 195.534 | 193.572 | 1.962 |
| Challenger 600 | CL60 | 194.018 | 207.146 | -13.128 |
| Citation 5 Ultra Encore | C560 | 190.090 | 218.730 | -28.640 |
| Gulfstream 4 | GLF4 | 177.932 | 206.780 | -28.848 |
| Challenger 300 | CL30 | 163.000 | 176.934 | -13.934 |
Source: FAA
Although the FAA does not make much data available, it is possible to cross-reference some information and see that not only the Phenom 300 but the Citation Latitude, the Challenger 350 and the Citation CJ3 have also seen an increase in the number of operations in recent months.
All of them are in production and the fleet is growing and certainly the North American market, the largest in the world, is a destination for these new aircraft.
Of these, the Challenger 350, a medium-sized jet, is the one that most expanded takeoffs, by 3.6% compared to July 2022 – the Phenom 300 grew 1% in this interval.
Fleet of 703 aircrafts and growing
The other six executive jets that appear in the FAA’s charts are retired models, whose fleet naturally reduces over time.
The Hawker family, derived from the British BAe 125, for example, saw operating numbers fall by 15%. The aircraft stopped being produced in 2013 by Textron, which had purchased its industrial rights.
The Phenom 300 is, without a doubt, Embraer’s most successful executive jet and leads sales in its light model segment. And this is another aspect to be taken into account since the list includes aircraft of various sizes.
The aircraft fleet has grown and, according to GAMA, the association of general aviation aircraft manufacturers, it reached 703 jets by 2022.
The Excel family is larger, having accumulated 1,030 aircraft since 1998, but deliveries fell significantly from 2009, the year the Phenom entered service.
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Given this scenario, it can be concluded that Embraer’s leadership in the number of operations of the executive jet was just a matter of time.
