ORLANDO — Embraer served champagne to celebrate the unveiling of a new large business jet, the Legacy 650, at a media briefing this afternoon at the National Business Aviation Association convention. It’s the sixth business jet the company has launched in the past four years. The $29.5 million plane will carry 13 passengers and have a range of 3,900 nautical miles.

The plane is on track to be certified in the second half of 2010.  The company does not yet have a launch customer for the aircraft.

Embraer started development of the jet in 2008, before the economic crisis hit.

The Brazil-based company went forward with the aircraft, seeing it as an opportunity in the face of the crisis, company officials said.

“In 2005, we created a vision to become a major player by 2015 in (the business jet market),” said Embraer vice president of executive jets Luis Carlos Affonso. “This move is pretty much consistent with this.”

– Molly McMillin

Say this seven times really fast: Boeing Co. on Friday delivered its 777th 777.

The aerospace company turned over the new 777-300ER jetliner to longtime customer Air France, which operates one of the larger fleets of the widebody twinjet in the world.

So far, Boeing says, 56 customers have ordered more than 1,100 777s. Boeing launched the airplane program in 1990, with the first plane entering service in June 1995.

Air France has taken delivery of 40 777s out of 59 it has ordered.

Boeing’s decision to adjust production from the middle of next year is hardly surprising. What will be of interest is what the company makes public in its first quarter earnings call on April 22 and how the company decides to manage key programs like the 747-8 and 787 Dreamliner — the latter of which should be in service by the time these production cuts kick in.

While production on the 747-400 line slows to an end (in terms of actual deliveries), the transition to the 747-8F and 747-8I means that the lack of production rate increases earmarked for late 2010/early 2011 allows Boeing to better match customer deliveries to the general state of the market . With the bulk of all 747-8 family orders for the freighter model, the collapse of the cargo segment means that until a meaningful rebound in traffic occurs, keeping production floating at less than two airplanes a month is probably better than customers cancelling their orders altogether.

At present, no cancellations on the 747-8 family have occured and its not entirely out of the realm that some customers may have already negotiated deferrals farther out than 2010 or 2011.

One key element of Boeing’s announcement was this:

“Because the 747 program is currently in a loss position, the reduced earnings associated with the fac-tors above will be recorded for most units in the 747 backlog.”

CEO Jim McNerney’s comments earlier this year about the 747 drew huge (and largely incorrect) assumptions that the 747-8I would be scrapped. On the contrary, Boeing still intends to stick with both 747-8 models and reinforced this by commissioning Altitude Aerospace to deliver new interiors for the 747-8I and launch customer Lufthansa.

The issue with the 767 becomes slightly more opaque –particularly as deliveries of the 787 start in ear-nest next year. As of March, there were 67 767s left to be built — production runs around one airplane a month and may end up having some orders switched to either 777s or 787s if customers can acquire earlier slots for increased capacity as a result of other airlines renegotiating deliveries in lieu of the current economic climate. Cancellations at this stage seem somewhat premature for the 767, given that the type has secured fresh new orders as a result of the 787 being delayed by almost two years.

Of course, “next on the chopping block” is the venerable 737 family — but with a plethora of 737 customers able to shuffle delivery slots for later than planned acquisitions, the door again remains open for other customers to speed up their 737 deliveries to phase out older and less efficient airplanes. Critically, the ease with which Boeing can adjust 737 production indicates their prowess of managing one of their most successful airplane programs in its history, despite having a phenomenal backlog of over 2000 units. Even more interesting is that the 737 has yet to suffer any order cancellation thus far in 2009. In contrast, Airbus has had 14 cancellations of its A320 family so far this year.

And while all of this goes on, to suggest that both Airbus and Boeing have buffered themselves for the future is perhaps a premature view. One certainty is that before the end of the year is out we’re guaranteed to see yet more production changes to other widebody jets — and with it, the threat of losing more aerospace jobs as a result of the downturn is something that may not be avoidable.

Eclipse Aviation says it will not oppose a motion filed by senior noteholders in federal court to convert the Albuquerque aircraft manufacturer’s bankruptcy proceedings to Chapter 7, which would lead to liquidation of the company.

The senior secured noteholders filed the motion in U.S. District Court in Delaware on Tuesday after it became clear that Eclipse’s buyer, European-based EclipseJet Aviation International Inc., was unable to obtain financing, particularly from the Russian government.

Eclipse Aviation said in a news release today the company does not plan to contest the motion.

Albuquerque business bankruptcy attorney Bill Davis says given the circumstances of the motion filed, he believes it’s 99 percent certain the judge will order a Chapter 7 bankruptcy to proceed. Davis is not representing anyone in the case.

From the report:

EADS North America provided technical information about several Airbus wide-body commercial aircraft to the U.S. Air Force in 2007 when it was conducting an analysis of alternatives for the competition, said spokesman Guy Hicks.

But the company ultimately decided that participating in the competition would not advance its goal to invest in the United States and create high-technology jobs, Hicks said.

“After careful review, we’ve determined that participation in the AF-1 program will not help us meet these business objectives,” he said.

Hicks went on to say that EADS will continue to work with Northrop Grumman on a bid for refueling tankers, which are expected to be awarded early next year.

The museum will showcase its renovated lobby and open archive area. It also will unveil an exhibit that  features a detailed map that identifies all Wichita manufacturing companies, beginning with the early days of aviation.

There is no charge for the event. For  more information, call Lon Smith at 316-683-9242 or e-mail him at lonsmith@kansasaviationmuseum.org.

A French prosecutor says searchers have located the flight recorders of an Airbus A320 passenger jet that crashed off France’s southern coast.

Assistant prosecutor Dominique Alzeari in Perpignan says divers are gradually locating the wreckage but won’t be able to retrieve the black boxes until the weekend. The search was continuing despite choppy seas.

A minesweeper is searching choppy seas for the black box flight recorders of an Airbus A320 passenger plane that crashed into the Mediterranean off France’s southern coast.

Authorities in the city of Perpignan say the ship equipped to sweep for mines and other metal objects was among 15 boats, 14 divers, a helicopter and a navy aircraft at the crash site Friday about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) off the coast.

The airplane went down during a maintenance flight Thursday, with seven people aboard. Two bodies have been recovered.

The plane’s owner Air New Zealand says rescuers have little hope of finding survivors.

The plane was leased to charter airline XL Airways Germany and was due to return to service for Air New Zealand next month.