It develops and manufactures aircraft and aviation systems, and provides leasing, equipment, and technical support services.

It initially focused on supplying military aircraft to the Brazilian Air Force, but by the 1980s began producing a series of successful commuter and regional airliners for export.

Embraer has divisions for commercial, executive, military, and agricultural aviation; it also maintains an incubator for aerospace technologies and businesses.

While the company continues producing aircraft for the defense sector, it is best known for the ERJ and E-Jet families of narrow-body short to medium range airliners, and for its line of business jets, including the market-leading Phenom 300.

[12][13] Its first president, Ozires Silva, was a government appointee, and the company initially only produced a turboprop passenger aircraft, the Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante.

[21] Aerotec S/A Indústria Aeronáutica was a design and manufacturing company founded in São José dos Campos in 1962 under the auspices of the Brazilian General Command for Aerospace Technology.

[citation needed] In 2000, Embraer made simultaneous initial public offerings on the NYSE and BM&F Bovespa stock exchanges.

[20] By May 2019, Embraer considered developing a new family of turboprop regional airliners in the 50–70 seat range, complementing the E-Jet E2, so as to free engineering resources.

[27] In August 2021, Embraer released a new configuration with quieter aft-mounted engines for a 70-90 seat aircraft, with the E-Jet cross-section, aiming for a 2022 launch and a 2027/2028 service entry.

[35] While firm orders for the yet-to-be-produced KC-390 transport had not yet been made in the fall of 2010,[31] Argentina asked for six examples and several other South American nations also expressed interest.

[36][37] Brazil and Canada engaged in an international, adjudicated trade dispute over government subsidies to domestic plane-makers in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The World Trade Organization determined that both countries had provided illegal subsidies to what were supposed to be privately owned industries.

[42] In April 2020, Boeing canceled its acquisition of Embraer's commercial operations after being heavily affected financially by the air crisis initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic and by the 737 MAX groundings.

[46] In December 2019, Embraer and the Brazilian Air Force tackled the development of a light military transport aircraft.

The company has offices in Beijing, Fort Lauderdale, Amsterdam, Singapore, and Washington, D.C.[54] By December 2018, Embraer claimed to lead the sub 150 seat jetliner market with 100 operators of the ERJ and E-Jet families.