A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

Embraer is taking advantage of the buzz around the LABACE show this year to introduce prospective buyers to its stable of business jets and will be flying demo tours around Brazil and Latin America. The current lineup includes the ultra-large-cabin Lineage 1000E, large-cabin Legacy 650E, the midsize Legacy 500 and mid-light 450, the Phenom 300E and 100EV.
The best-selling Phenom 300E (for the past four years) is the latest Embraer business jet to get a full upgrade. Indeed, the “E” stands for “enhanced,” according to Embraer, and refers to the jet’s redesigned cabin and the addition of Lufthansa Technik’s nice HD CMS/IFE (High Definition Cabin Management System/In-flight Entertainment) system.
Deliveries of the $9.45 million Phenom 300E commenced in&nbsp;early 2018, with <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-03-29/embraer-executive-jets-delivers-first-phenom-300e">the first one going to John McCormick</a>, a South Africa businessman who has owned two earlier Phenom 300s. “The interior architecture and design are modern and all the customization options allowed us to make the aircraft perfect for us,” he said.
The cabin enhancements include new seats, designed and engineered by Embraer and manufactured at sister company Embraer Aero Seating Technologies in Titusville, Florida. They incorporate extendable headrests with bolsters, extendable leg rests and retractable armrest, and the seatback has been broadened for greater support. The 300E also offers more customization and personalization options for the seats, with a wide choice of leathers and stitching.
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<div style="margin-bottom:5px;"><img alt="New two-seat divans increase the Embraer Phenom 300E’s capacity to 11 passengers." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1039e5e2-4c86-42f4-94c8-aad460ed11fb" src="/sites/default/files/p300_view_02.jpg" width="2100" height="1050" loading="lazy"></div>
<figcaption style="font-size:1.5rem;line-height:1.2;font-style:italic;">New two-seat divans increase the Embraer Phenom 300E’s capacity to 11 passengers.</figcaption>
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The table, side ledge, side wall, and valence designs are also new, while the cabin is more spacious, with a three-inch wider aisle and an additional inch of headroom compared with the $8.95 million 300. Embraer's new 300E also incorporates an upper technology panel along the centerline of the cabin ceiling, significantly improving passenger ergonomics, according to the company.
This panel presents passengers with pertinent in-flight information while allowing for convenient interaction with cabin management controls. In-flight entertainment with audio and video on demand is also available as an option via two slender swing-down seven-inch displays. The ceiling panel also incorporates an upgraded cabin lighting scheme, with a broad range of ambient mood selections, and patented flush air nozzles. Meanwhile, Bluetooth connectivity allows passengers to view in-flight information on their personal devices.
Much of the technology remains hidden, discretely tucked into side ledges, for example, keeping the interior sleek and stylish, a design signature of Jay Beever, the company’s vice president of&nbsp;interior&nbsp;design and architect of Embraer’s so-called “future proof” cabins.
“When we design the interior, to protect ourselves and the customer, we design for maintainability,” said Beever. In&nbsp;the 300E, “we moved critical components away from windows so that anything that fails can be fixed in 30 minutes or less.” He also noted with the trends toward asset-less access models that are gaining popularity among business aviation users, with its easily maintained and updatable interior, “the 300E is especially set up to handle the marketplace in the shared-ownership space.”
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<div style="margin-bottom:5px;"><img alt="Side walls and side ledges are all new on the Phenom 300E. In fact, the “E” is for “enhanced.”" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0d48af41-cdd8-4926-9308-5de560fcc820" src="/sites/default/files/p300_view_13.jpg" width="2100" height="1050" loading="lazy"></div>
<figcaption style="font-size:1.5rem;line-height:1.2;font-style:italic;">Side walls and side ledges are all new on the Phenom 300E. In fact, the “E” is for “enhanced.”</figcaption>
</figure>

Performance-wise, the Phenom 300E delivers a high-speed cruise of 453 knots, a six-occupant range of 1,971 nm and a maximum cabin altitude of 6,600 feet, the best pressurization in its class, according to Embraer. Base price is $9.45 million and customization options start at an extra $300,000.
Because the 300E has all-new interior attach points and the seats have different rails, the updated cabin cannot be retrofitted to the approximately 450 in-service Phenom 300s.
Embraer Services &amp; Support has completed the first upgrade of a Phenom 300 with a two-person divan, increasing aircraft capacity to 11 people. The upgrade was completed at Embraer’s service center in Sorocaba, Brazil, via a service bulletin that is available to Phenom 300 customers at all 70 of Embraer Executive Jets’ owned and authorized service centers worldwide.

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