Story ID: 
Big Jet Rolls Into Big Apple
By: Gregory Polek
Caption: Brazil’s Embraer celebrated the first anniversary of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange by taking its ERJ-190 road show to the Big Apple’s Rockefel
Word Count: 196
Brazil’s Embraer celebrated the first anniversary of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange by taking its ERJ-190 road show to the Big Apple’s Rockefeller Center in late July. The “rolling tour,” which showcased a partial ERJ-190 mockup rigged to an 18-wheel truck, stopped in 12 cities over the summer and attracted an estimated 2,500 visitors, including executives from at least 25 airlines. Although regional carriers stand as the type’s only firm customers so far, Embraer hopes to draw interest from national and major airlines for its biggest jets, nominally designed to hold 98 and 108 seats, respectively. Scheduled for first flight in mid-2003, the larger variant–the ERJ-190-200–would enter service with Switzerland’s Crossair roughly a year later, according to Embraer’s flight-test schedule. The ERJ-190-100, which has yet to draw a firm order, is scheduled to fly in the third quarter of 2004. While in New York, Embraer CEO Mauricio Botelho rung the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange as a gesture to mark the first anniversary of the company’s IPO. The stock price opened at $18 a share in June of last year. On August 10 it traded at $36.25 a share.