Ex-Im Bank Approves $45.5 Million for Brazilian Airline Maintenance by Delta Airlines
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) today approved a Final Commitment for a $45.5 million loan guarantee to VRG Linhas Aereas S.A. (GOL), a Brazilian airline. The Ex-Im Bank supported financing will support the export of engine maintenance services by Delta TechOps (Delta), a subsidiary of Delta Airlines, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. This transaction will support approximately 400 jobs.
GOL engines will be shipped from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Atlanta for heavy maintenance to be performed by Delta Air Lines' maintenance, repair, and overhaul unit. Last April, Ex-Im Bank also approved an $84.8 million loan guarantee to GOL to support the export of maintenance services by Delta. More than 50 percent of GOL's engine maintenance is currently provided by Delta.
“Supporting American service exports is a critical component of what we do here at Ex-Im Bank, and I am pleased that our financing will help support high-quality jobs for Delta employees in Atlanta,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman Fred P. Hochberg. “American companies provide the best products and services in the world, and this financing demonstrates how Ex-Im Bank helps level the playing field for American companies like Delta.”
Ex-Im Bank approved a second final commitment for GOL to support the export of a Boeing 737-800 aircraft with attached CFM56 engines. It is estimated that this transaction will support approximately 200 jobs at Boeing and its suppliers throughout the United States.
About Ex-Im Bank
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years (from Fiscal Year 2008), Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers nearly $1.6 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved nearly $35.8 billion in total authorizations in FY 2012 - an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6.1 billion directly supporting small-business export sales - also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $50 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 255,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.