Embraer (EMB, Sao Jose dos Campos) has received requests from some customers for the deferral of aircraft deliveries and is "accommodating these requests where possible", Chief Executive John Slattery told AIN.

"We had some inbound requests for relatively short-term deferments, but nothing that would push aircraft [delivery] out of the calendar year. We are talking about a delay of a few weeks or a month," he said.

The Brazilian manufacturer said that the ongoing crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic had led many airlines to ground sizeable numbers of aircraft. Embraer has thus focused on assisting them "from an operational perspective". Slattery said Embraer was trying to avail more resources to assist with the grounded jets' ground maintenance requirements.

According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Embraer had 345 aircraft on firm order as of October 31, 2019, most of them either E175s (181 units) or E195-E2s (123). Since then, it has delivered 36 aircraft, including four in 2020 - two E175s for Envoy Air, one E190-E2 for Helvetic Airways, and one E195-E2 for Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras.

Slattery added that the current epidemic-related crisis was one of two factors impacting Embraer sales; the second being the final outcome of the European Commission's antitrust investigation into the takeover of the manufacturer's commercial aviation line by Boeing.

"The environment for selling aircraft now is getting increasingly complicated because airlines want to have visibility on Embraer gaining its final antitrust approval and clarity on the joint venture. They want to know the profile of the company," Slattery underlined.

The joint venture has already been approved by eight authorities around the world, including in Japan, China, and the United States. However, the European regulator has until June 23 to announce its decision and recently requested an extensive drove of documents from both parties.