The board of directors of Eve Air Mobility has appointed Johann Bordais, current president and CEO of Embraer Services & Support, as chief executive officer effective 1 September, 2023. Eve co-CEOs Andre Stein and Jerry DeMuro will remain at Eve with new roles.

“Eve has made incredible progress and accomplished important milestones in the development of an eVTOL aircraft and the urban air ecosystem under the leadership of Jerry and Stein,” says board chairman Luís Carlos Affonso. “Now, with the acceleration of our vehicle development and increased focus on operations and entry into service of our eVTOL, Johann Bordais' leadership and experience successfully leading a global business will be an outstanding addition to Eve's team, helping our mission to create urban air mobility.”

Bordais has led Embraer's Services & Support business since its foundation in 2016. He was pivotal in transforming the area into Embraer's fast-growing and most profitable business, with reported revenues of $1.27 billion in 2022, accounting for 28 per cent of Embraer's total revenue. During his tenure at Embraer Services & Support, Bordais has transformed Embraer's after sales business model, globalising its solutions and guaranteeing customer satisfaction through innovation and integrated products, and providing a broad portfolio of solutions to customers in commercial aviation, executive jets and defence, with over 2,300 people dedicated to supporting customers and their 5,700 aircraft worldwide.

“I am very grateful for Johann and his exceptional leadership, relentless focus on the customer experience and excellent results achieved in his 23 years dedicated to the Services & Support area,” says Embraer president and CEO Francisco Gomes Neto. “I am sure he will add significant value to Eve's team during this new phase of the company and will consolidate Eve as a leading player in the new UAM industry.”

Bordais says: “Urban air mobility has the potential to revolutionise how people commute and travel with a direct impact on millions of lives. Supporting customers in a high-demand services environment with the right product is our mission. Eve has built a skilled team in recent years to deliver an effective and sustainable new mode of transportation, and I'm so proud and very excited to join this group."

Jerry DeMuro will remain at Eve as executive vice president of corporate development through the end of October 2023 to assist Bordais in the transition. DeMuro joined the company in September 2021 as co-CEO and was instrumental in Eve's SPAC transaction, taking the company to a very successful NYSE listing that raised approximately $400 million from multiple strategic financial investors.

DeMuro says: “I believe Eve is uniquely positioned to become a leading player in a potential $760 billion urban air mobility market. Our pipeline of orders, full support from Embraer and a large group of strategic partners are key differentiators. I look forward to continuing to help Eve accomplish its vision of sustainable urban aviation.”

Andre Stein will assume the role of chief strategy officer at Eve, based in the US. He will be responsible for defining Eve's strategy, including commercialisation, growth and the development and execution of launch strategies with Eve's international partners and operators. Stein has over 25 years of experience in the aerospace industry with a focus on sales, product development and market strategy, and has nurtured the urban air mobility initiative since its inception, helping to define the industry's potential use-cases, markets and product characteristics, while contributing to Eve's spin-off process, NYSE listing and capital raise.

“We believe that the urban air mobility market has enormous potential in the coming years based on an efficient, zero-emissions transport proposition. I will continue to support Eve to reach vehicle type certification, entry into service, scale its manufacturing and support operations globally,” says Stein.

Due to the successful completion of Eve's launch phase and new demands of his schedule, Kenn Ricci has announced his intention to resign from the Eve board by the end of October 2023. At that time, the expectation is Jerry DeMuro will be appointed to replace Ricci. “Kenn's entrepreneurship and aviation vision were invaluable to the completion of the merger of Zanite and Eve in a $2.7 billion transaction,” says Affonso.

“Eve is another success case of our long-term partnership with Embraer as we share similar values and an extraordinary passion for innovation, sustainable aviation and emerging technologies,” adds Ricci.