Partners for the long haul

Frontiers April 2014 Issue

Partners Boeing’s growing presence in Brazil is the foundation for a long-term partnership with far-reaching opportunities By Bill Seil On Oct. 23, 2013—Aviator’s Day in Brazil—Boeing joined GOL Airlines, an all-Boeing customer, in launching the country’s first commercial flight powered by biofuels. The flight, completed by a GOL 737-800, traveled from São Paulo to Brasilia. It helped advance the “Flightpath to Aviation Biofuels in Brazil,” an action plan that was developed by Boeing, Embraer and the Foundation for Research Support of the State of São Paulo. “We studied what it would take to establish a commercially viable aviation biofuels industry in Brazil,” said Donna Hrinak, who has served as president of Boeing Brazil since it was established in October 2011. “We concluded that Brazil has some important competitive advantages, not the least of which is Brazil’s great experience in producing ethanol and biodiesel.” It’s but one example of many opportunities for Boeing in Brazil, where the company is developing broad-based partnerships within this rapidly growing country. “In Brazil, we’re looking ahead to a very long-term partnership,” Hrinak said. “It will only deepen and broaden as we learn more about the capabilities of Brazilian industry, and they learn more about what it means to work with the world’s largest aerospace company. There are excellent opportunities for win-win collaboration involving a wide range of technologies.” Boeing has been doing business in Brazil for more than 80 years. But the opening of the first Boeing Brazil office in São Paulo in 2011 was a bold step to expand its presence there— and further grow this important relationship. A second permanent office was opened in 2013; this time in Brasilia, the capital. In early 2012, Boeing Research & 28 Frontiers April 2014


Frontiers April 2014 Issue
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