São José dos Campos, Brazil, September 24, 2020 – Marcelo Santiago has been appointed to lead the Contracts and Asset Management team of Embraer’s commercial aviation business unit per October 1st. In this critical role, Marcelo will report directly to Arjan Meijer, President and CEO Embraer Commercial Aviation.

Having joined Embraer on the E-Jet programme in 2001, Marcelo has for the last seven years been Managing Director Customer Finance and Credit Risk Management, overseeing the needs of all Embraer business units. Marcelo’s expertise covers structured and aviation finance, sales, leasing, debt financing, capital markets, risk management, credit analysis, securitization, export and trade finance. He holds a Master's degree in Production Engineering, specializing in financial engineering and Project Finance, and a Bachelor's degree in Business, both from Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG).

“This is a great role for a high performer like Marcelo and I am extremely pleased to see him join my leadership team. Marcelo has great passion and energy for the business and additionally will bring valuable knowledge and experience from his previous role in customer finance. A deserved move and I am confident he will do great in this role.” said Arjan Meijer, President and CEO of Embraer’s commercial aviation unit.

Marcelo moves into the role as Simon Newitt has decided to leave the company after 20 years of valuable contribution. Simon has indicated he would like to pursue new opportunities to further his career.

Arjan Meijer added, “I’d like to thank Simon for his many years of outstanding service to the company across a number of diverse roles. His contribution has been significant, he has been a great colleague and we wish Simon the very best in his future endeavours.”

Embraer is the world’s leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft up to 150 seats with more than 100 customers from all over the world. For the E-Jets program alone, Embraer has logged more than 1,800 orders and 1,600 aircraft have been delivered. Today, E-Jets are flying in the fleet of more than 80 customers in some 50 countries. The versatile 70 to 150-seat family is flying with low-cost airlines as well as with regional and mainline carriers.