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Inside the Customer Support Team
Representing Embraer in Asia Pacific has its own unique challenges according to André de Castilho Silva. As Director of Customer Support for Executive and Commercial Jets in the region, he oversees all activities for both markets, this includes coordinating the local Operators Conferences, looking after Material Services and the Spare Parts Distribution Center and an E-Jets Training Center in Singapore and providing guidance to the Embraer Authorized Service Centers that make up the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) network in the region.
To top it off, working in this region means lots of long distance trips to visit customers (a flight from Singapore to Brisbane, Australia takes eight hours, for example) in different countries, regulations, customs requirements, different values and different environments. But, even those issues may not be as daunting as learning and adapting to “routine” local activities— like crossing the street in Hanoi, Vietnam. “When we were there we faced a challenge to cross a high traffic street without any traffic light around. After a couple of minutes observing the locals, we realized the best way to cross the street was simply to start crossing in the middle of all the cars and motorcycles—which would normally deviate—provided you do not run nor step back,” he noted, adding, “that lesson actually applies pretty well to the management of Customer Support with a growing product line and a very diverse region!”
André is well suited to his role. A ten-year employee of Embraer, he is a native of São José dos Campos who works for his “hometown” company a long way from home! He obtained his technical education at ETEP (Escola Técnica Professor Everardo Passos) and studied Engineering at UNIVAP (Universidade do Vale do Paraíba), both in São José dos Campos before starting his career in 1983 at IAE (Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço), there. He worked on rockets and satellite launchers before moving to Ericsson to help in the development of Automated Test Equipment (ATE) for electronic manufacturing. In 1993 he joined Alfatest in São Paulo and came to Embraer in 1999.
After building his early career close to home, André’s “wanderlust” took effect five years ago. He’s been in Singapore since then and says that working with the diverse clientele he has in the Asia Pacific region is something he likes very much. “Working at Embraer provides a great chance to work in a high profile environment, and working in aviation means you always have to be open to learn something new every day. Working in Customer Support means you have to be prepared to meet a lot of different challenges. It’s exciting. Finding the right people with local flavor aimed to match the diversity is also interesting. We’ve put together a team that is well suited to this region. It’s a unique experience and one I wouldn’t trade for anything,” he concluded.
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