Embraer’s board of directors appointed Felipe Santana Santiago de Lima as Executive Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations (CFO), effective April 13, 2026. Santana, a 18-year company veteran and current global director of treasury, succeeds Antonio Carlos Garcia, who departed this week for the CFO role at Azul Linhas Aéreas.
The São Paulo-based aerospace giant announced the leadership change on April 10 from its headquarters in São José dos Campos, Brazil. This internal promotion ensures continuity in financial strategy amid Embraer’s push into commercial jets up to 150 seats, executive aviation, and defense sectors.
Embraer, founded in 1969, has delivered over 9,000 aircraft, with one taking off every 10 seconds worldwide and carrying 150 million passengers annually. The company employs 21,122 people across industrial units in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Santana’s treasury expertise positions him to manage fiscal challenges in a market favoring regional jets like Embraer’s E-Jets E2 family, which compete directly with Airbus A220 and Boeing’s 737 MAX variants in the narrowbody segment under 150 seats. Rising demand for fuel-efficient regional aircraft, driven by capacity constraints on mainline routes, underscores the CFO role’s importance for funding production ramps and supply chain investments.
For Embraer, the appointment stabilizes investor relations during defense contract bids and executive jet backlogs, bolstering its market positioning against Bombardier and ATR in key segments.