SAO PAULO/PARIS (Reuters) - Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA (EMBR3.SA) has been thrust into an uncertain future with no immediate plan B, while not ruling out seeking a bailout after Boeing Co (BA.N) jettisoned a $4.2 billion commercial aerospace tie-up amid the coronavirus crisis.
The company’s shell-shocked chief executive, in the job for a year with little aerospace experience, sought to rally staff after the board held late-night talks to review the collapse of plans for surviving mounting aerospace competition.
“Our history is full of difficult moments, and we have overcome all of them,” Francisco Gomes Neto told Embraer’s 20,000 staff before giving them a thumbs up.
But Embraer now faces a historic crisis with its isolation reinforced by the breakup - two years after Europe’s Airbus (AIR.PA) absorbed Embraer’s main competitor, the Canadian-designed A220.
“For Embraer, it could be very damaging,” said Teal Group consultant Richard Aboulafia, noting it was the only significant independent jetmaker.
“It’s hard to pressure your suppliers when the volume you’re offering is a fraction of your competition’s”.
Embraer’s immediate aim is to reassure investors. It pledged cost savings and said it had solid liquidity.
It also tore up arguments previously used to persuade unions and regulators to back the deal, saying it could survive without Boeing rather than stating the deal would be its “salvation”.
The former state-owned company has not asked for a bailout but says it is open to “complementary” sources of financing.
Brazilian companies, including airlines and automakers, are in bailout discussions.
Embraer “will need strong government support to recover the (separation)
