Embraer Legacy 600: The Best Business Jet Yet?
Since it was put into service in 2002, the Embraer Legacy 600 has proven to be one of the best private jets that have ever been put into service. Not only are the people who fly on it, but also the pilots who fly it, absolutely adore this aircraft.
One of the most popular models of private aircraft in the 21st century is the Embraer Legacy 600, which was manufactured by Embraer and put into production almost 300 times over the course of 18 years.
Pre-Embraer Legacy 600
In the latter half of the 1990s and throughout the early years of the 2000s, commercial airlines gradually began raising fares for business and first class travel on the business and tourist routes with the highest demand. This continued until it reached a point where flying privately was only a marginally more expensive option!
Because of this, a significant portion of the top 1% of the world’s population began purchasing private jets, to the point where many of them were flying jets that were more than four decades old and completely inefficient in terms of fuel consumption. At one point in time, the vast majority of the available business jets were put to use.
However, there were still not enough jets available.
As a result of this, individuals started purchasing retired airliners, which ranged from turboprops to small jets (such as the 737), and even retired 747s! A luxury interior would be installed in this space after the original airline interior was gutted and removed.
However, there were still not enough jets available.
Seeing an opportunity here, a number of aircraft manufacturers started work on designing fresh new business jets, such as the Learjet 40/45, Challenger 850, Global 5000, Gulfstream G550, and Hawker 4000.
Although this did help to ease some of the problem, there were still not enough jets available.
As a result of this, commercial aircraft manufacturers began developing their very own lines of private jets, such as Boeing’s Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) programme and Airbus’s Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ) programme respectively.
Smaller commercial aircraft manufacturers, such as Brazil’s Embraer, began to investigate the idea of producing a business jet variation of their well-known ERJ line of jet-powered regional jets after the industry’s recent uptick in confidence.
Embraer’s research would produce favourable findings, indicating that there is a substantial need for a business jet derivative of the ERJ-135, which would lead to the company’s development of the aircraft (the shortest and most fuel efficient member of the ERJ family).
However, Embraer’s research had also shown that in order for the ERJ-135 to effectively compete with Bombardier’s Challenger series and the Falcon 2000, it would require significant upgrades to the aircraft. This was due to a number of factors, the primary ones being range and efficiency.
Engineers from Embraer placed additional fuel tanks beneath the luggage compartment and directly in front of the wings in order to extend the range of the aircraft. The engineers at Embraer placed winglets to the ends of the wings of the aircraft in order to make the aircraft more fuel efficient…
In addition to this, Embraer engineers would begin a massive drag reduction programme, which would result in large portions of the aircraft’s wing and forward fuselage being redesigned to be significantly more fuel efficient than the ERJ-135’s.
At the Farnborough Airshow in the year 2000, Embraer planned to debut a new aircraft that it termed the Legacy 2000. They would later become the first operators of the Legacy 2000 after receiving several orders for it here. The Legacy 2000 was named after this location.
The Embraer Legacy 2000 was renamed the Embraer Legacy 600 in 2005 for marketing reasons, and it has had that name ever since!
Embraer would introduce a business jet version of their larger ERJ-145 in 2009, and they would call it the Legacy 650. This decision was made after the company saw the success that the Legacy 600 had.
A Record of Service
The Legacy 600 would make its maiden flight for Embraer on March 31, 2001, and the aircraft would be put into service in February of the following year. From this point forward, it would go on to have a very interesting history of service!
Business Flying Machine
At the time that Embraer first unveiled the Legacy 600 at the Farnborough Airshow in the year 2000, the company initially pitched it as a corporate/business jet to be purchased by businesspeople and corporations.
In this capacity, it was designed to transport the Chief Executive Officer and other members of the C-Suite (as well as, on occasion, their families!) while they were travelling for official business, all while providing them with the ability to continue working during the journey.
As a result of this, a significant number of the Legacy 600’s earliest operators were either billionaire owners of Fortune 500 businesses or Fortune 500 corporations themselves. At this location, the amount that these planes fly on a monthly basis varies depending on how much demand there is for them during that specific month.
Because of its size, most corporate operators of the Legacy 600 are able to use it for both long-haul and short-haul flights. This is because the Legacy 600 has a very large cabin. However, the Legacy 600 is typically utilised on long-haul routes rather than short-haul routes by the majority of business operators.
Unfortunately, a lot of companies don’t want the general public to be aware that they have a corporate aircraft (mostly to avoid obvious displays of wealth). As a direct consequence of this, the majority of Legacy 600s are in the possession of faceless corporations or individuals who don’t appear to exist.
The Embraer Legacy 600 has quickly become a favourite among private jet operators, despite the fact that the jet was initially marketed toward corporate flyers. This is primarily due to the jet’s well-known comfort as well as its above-average range.
Sadly, a good number of these operators are celebrities, and they are flying on private jets so that they won’t be swarmed by fans or photographed by paparazzi when they land. As a result of this, virtually all of these jets are kept secret in order to facilitate this.
In light of the aforementioned, it is worth noting that a number of famous people have chartered an Embraer Legacy 600 as their personal private aircraft.
Cristiano Ronaldo, a great athlete who hails from Portugal, is by far the most well-known of these personalities. When he first started flying, he did it aboard a chartered Legacy 600; nevertheless, he recently purchased his own own Gulfstream G650.
However, Ronaldo isn’t the only famous person who drives a Legacy 600. Maroon 5, an American pop band, has been using a Legacy 600 as their band’s private aircraft for a significant amount of time. This plane has frequently accompanied them on tours.
Alongside Ronaldo and Maroon 5, we have Formula One driver Sergio Pérez. Sergio Pérez was very famous for travelling on an Embraer Legacy 600 along with his management team and important members of his entourage when flying on long-haul routes! Ronaldo and Maroon 5 are also on board!
Even though they are the most renowned persons to have flown on the plane, celebrities are not the only people who opt to use the Legacy 600 as a private jet for themselves. People who are wealthy in their own right also choose to fly privately rather than first class, primarily due to the fact that flying privately is frequently more convenient than flying first class.
Charter
Thanks to the Embraer Legacy 600’s popularity as both a corporate and private jet, a large number of prominent executive charter airlines have acquired the plane and have began operating charter flights on the jet.
If you visit the websites of these executive charter airlines, you will notice that many of them promote the Legacy 600 as the type of jet that you should charter if you want to carry a few high-net-worth individuals and their families over great distances.
This is mostly attributable to the fact that the aircraft is capable of flying on the majority of transatlantic routes while also having the ability to transport the same number of passengers as a typical family (eg. grandparents, parents, children and greatgrandchildren.)
Having said that, many of these executive charter airlines also market the Legacy 600 as the jet you would want to hire if you were flying over a small distance where it was necessary to travel in elegance. This is something that you would want to do if you were planning on using the Legacy 600.
This is itself owing to the vast cabin of the Legacy 600 as well as the fact that Embraer created the Legacy 600 to be at the pinnacle of luxury and as a symbol of power, two things that it still remains almost 20 years after it was first put into service!
The price of chartering an Embraer Legacy 600 ranges anywhere from $5,500 to $6,700 per hour, depending on the executive charter airline you use, the time of year, and the route you take.
Shared or Partially Owned Property
However, the Legacy 600’s performance as a corporate and private jet has not only been recognised by executive charter airlines but also by other types of airlines. Companies that provide fractional ownership have done the same. They have purchased the Legacy 600, just like executive charter airlines have done previously.
For many of these companies, they have purchased brand new or pre-owned Legacy 600s with the goal of selling various percentages of the aircraft to various persons. For instance, they may sell three people a 1/3 part of the aircraft, or they may sell eight people a 1/8 share.
As a result of this, these “owners” have the privilege of flying the plane for a predetermined amount of time each year. In this scenario, the owners are responsible for paying any direct costs associated with the flight, including as fuel and airport fees, while the fractional ownership firm is in charge of providing skilled pilots.
The firm that facilitates fractional ownership will also be responsible for all aircraft maintenance. At the conclusion of each year, the associated costs will be divided among the numerous owners, who will then be responsible for footing the bill.
At the moment, the price that you have to pay to purchase a portion of an Embraer Legacy 600 varies greatly depending on the fractional ownership firm that you buy it from as well as the amount of the portion that you have purchased. After all, a one-eighth portion will only cost one-third as much as a third’s share!
Companies that facilitate fractional ownership of aircraft typically charge additional fees to cover the costs of piloting and maintaining the aircraft. Although the exact amount varies from business to business, it often falls anywhere between $15,000 and $25,000 every month.
Military
The Embraer Legacy 600 has shown itself to be quite capable of performing the dual role of an aircraft used for transporting military personnel as well as a luxurious private jet. This is similar to the performance of many other private jets.
At the moment, the Brazilian Air Force uses two Legacy 600s with the designation VC-99 to serve as VIP transport aircraft for very high-profile individuals. Despite the fact that they are neither the major nor the secondary aircraft, these planes frequently perform the role of the Brazilian Air Force One.
The A319ACJ or the Lineage 1000 is typically the aircraft of choice for travel by the Brazilian president and other high-ranking Brazilian officials the majority of the time. Having said that, these aircraft are relatively massive, and as a result, the hourly operating costs for them are rather high.
This is especially the case on routes that are middle and short in distance. The Brazilian Air Force uses two Legacy 600s as short-haul presidential transports in order to make the most of their resources, save money on fuel expenditures, and improve overall efficiency.
When they are not engaged in this activity, they are typically transporting high-ranking members of the military or mid-ranking politicians, in a manner analogous to that which the Gulfstream C-37 performs for the United States government.
In light of this information, they are scheduled to be retired from their role as backup Brazilian Air Force Ones once the Brazilian Air Force receives its two Phenom 100 aircraft.
After this, it is anticipated that the Legacy 600s will no longer be used for anything other than transporting high-ranking military officers.
Features
The average height of the Embraer Legacy 600’s competitors is 7 feet 4 inches, whereas the Embraer Legacy 600 is just 6 feet 11 inches (211 cm) tall. This makes the Embraer Legacy 600 far more svelte than its rivals (224 cm).
Having said that, the cabin of the Legacy 600 is noticeably longer than those of any other vehicle in its class. The Legacy 600 has a cabin that is 49 feet 10 inches (15.19 m) long, which is significantly longer than the typical cabin length for jets in its class, which is 35 feet (10.67 m).
The majority of the Legacy 600’s rivals have a luggage compartment that is around a third smaller than the one found in the Legacy 600. In the case of the Challenger 605, its dimensions have really been increased by a factor of two (plus an additional 10–15% or more)
The Legacy 600 requires a far shorter runway than its competitors, being able to take off from a runway that is 5,614 feet (1,711 m) long, compared to the class average of 5,659 feet. This is a significant advantage for the Legacy 600 when compared to its competitors (1,725 m).
However, in order to land safely, the Embraer Legacy 600 requires a runway that is marginally extended. The Legacy 600 has a minimum runway length requirement of approximately 2,685 feet (818 m), which is longer than the category average of 2543 feet (775 m).
Having said that, the Legacy 600 is a great deal quieter than its rivals, making it one of the few large business jets that can be flown to numerous airports with noise restrictions—airports that its rivals simply cannot be flown to!
Price
A brand new Legacy 600 from Embraer could be yours for the price of $25 million if you purchased it before very recently. On the other hand, manufacture of the Legacy 600 ceased in the middle of March 2020, therefore the only place to get one now is on the secondary market.
There are multiple Legacy 600s available on the secondary market as of the time this article was written, the most of them being older variations that were produced in the early to middle years of the 2000s. At the moment, the typical cost of a pre-owned Embraer Legacy 600 is somewhere in the neighbourhood of $7 million.
The typical retail price for a Legacy 600 that was produced in the 2000s is between $4.5 and $5.5 million. This price range is primarily determined by the number of flying hours logged by the aircraft and the year it was manufactured.
The selling price of a Legacy 600 produced in the 2010s can range anywhere from $6 million to approximately $7.5 million at the present time, with the primary variable being the amount of time that has passed since the jet was manufactured.
The fuel efficiency of the Embraer Legacy 600 is astonishingly high, especially considering how much it costs to operate. However, its economics are more comparable to those of a mid-sized or super mid-sized jet, even though it is classified as a large jet on paper.
If you were to fly the jet for 400 hours per year, the Legacy 600 would cost approximately $4,461 per hour to operate. This is a significant savings when compared to the Challenger 600, which costs $5,200 per hour to operate, and the Falcon 900, which costs $5,300 per hour to operate.
How Reliable is the Safety Record of the Embraer Legacy 600?
When discussing which types of aircraft are the safest and which are the most dangerous, virtually everyone tends to centre their attention only on commercial aircraft such as the A320 and 747. However, military aircraft are also a factor in this debate.
On the other hand, private jets are almost never included on these kinds of lists. The majority of the time, this is done on purpose; after all, the unfortunate reality is that only a small percentage of the total population of the world will ever have the opportunity to travel on a private aircraft like the Legacy 600.
On the other hand, those of you who are considering booking a flight on an Embraer Legacy 600 are certainly curious about how safe or dangerous the Legacy 600 is…
To this day, approximately 200 Subaru Legacy 600s have been assembled, however there has only ever been a single incident involving one of them.
A brand new Legacy 600 was being flown from the Embraer factory in Brazil to its operator headquartered in the United States when it was involved in a mid-air collision with a Gol 737-800 in the month of September of 2006.
Even though the left horizontal stabiliser and winglet of the Legacy 600 were severely damaged in the accident, the pilot would be able to land the jet safely at a nearby Brazilian Air Force installation without causing any casualties or fatalities.
The 737-800, on the other hand, would not have been as fortunate, since practically the entire left wing would have been severed. Because of this, the 737 went into a tailspin, which led to the fuselage breaking apart, which ultimately resulted in the deaths of everyone on board the 737-800.
After further examination, it was determined that the crew of the Legacy 600 did not activate the traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS), and that air traffic control did not alert both aircraft of the flight path of the other aircraft. As a result of this, Embraer discharged the whole crew of the Legacy 600.
To our great relief, this crew no longer works with aircraft of any kind, and now, personnel working on Legacy 600 aircraft ensure that TCAS is turned on by performing a double check. This occurrence of the accident should consequently never happen again.
How would you describe the experience of flying on an Embraer Legacy 600?
While I was researching and writing this essay, I had the opportunity to fly on multiple Embraer Legacy 600s, which was an incredible experience. In addition, I have to confess that I was pleasantly taken aback by how well the jet actually performed.
When I flew on the ERJ-135 and ERJ-145 on multiple occasions, I wasn’t too satisfied with the aircraft, so when I was going to fly on the Legacy 600, I believed it would also be unimpressive. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the Legacy 600. What an idiot I was…
The Legacy 600 has significantly more inside room than the majority of the vehicles it competes with. Even when the cabin is completely filled, it is still possible to stroll by everyone without having to squeeze through the aisles, as I have experienced on other types of aircraft.
Even though the oldest Legacy 600s are almost 20 years old, the jet is remarkably contemporary, with almost all features of the cabin being firmly established in the 21st century. These aspects include the entertainment systems, WIFI, and seat comfort.
The actual seats was by far the most enjoyable component of the Legacy 600 for me. When travelling on long-haul flights, or even if you just want to take a brief sleep, the interior designers at Embraer have laid out the cabin in such a way that the seats can be turned into beds.
However, when viewed from the perspective of a pilot, the cockpit appears to be a little bit dated due to the fact that it is only partially made of all-glass. Having said that, a significant number of operators have invested in the Mark I upgrade, which features a cabin made entirely of glass.
I’m interested to hear your thoughts on the Embraer Legacy 600. Have you ever taken a flight on that? Share your thoughts with me below!
