Ex-Im Bank Approves $84.8 Million for Brazilian Airline Maintenance

Ex-Im financing supports highly-skilled Delta jobs in Atlanta  

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) today announced that the board of directors has approved a Final Commitment for an $84.8 million loan guarantee to VRG Linhas Aereas S.A. (GOL), a Brazilian airline. This financing will support the export of engine maintenance services by Delta TechOps, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, headquartered in Atlanta, Ga.

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GOL engines will be shipped from Sao Paulo City to Atlanta for heavy maintenance to be performed by Delta Air Lines' maintenance, repair, and overhaul unit. In December 2010, GOL signed a contract with Delta Air Lines to perform heavy maintenance on GOL's CFM56-7B engines that are installed on the airline's Boeing 737 next generation aircraft fleet. As part of the contract, Delta TechOps will provide GOL with up to 253 scheduled engine removals and additional unscheduled removals. Ex-Im Bank's guarantee will cover the first two years of GOL's five-year contract with Delta TechOps. 

"Ex-Im Bank's financing will support high quality, high wage, technical jobs for Delta employees in Atlanta," said Fred P. Hochberg, chairman and president of Ex-Im Bank. "GOL is a long-time Ex-Im customer, and I'm pleased that they have chosen to have their engines repaired by highly-skilled American workers. This transaction truly highlights why Ex-Im financing is so critically important to U.S. businesses such as Delta."

"GOL's maintenance agreement with Delta Air Lines is essential to supporting our existing fleet, which has grown along with our airline operations in recent years," said Constantino de Oliveira Junior, Chief Executive Officer of GOL.  "The availability of Ex-Im Bank supported financing was an important consideration that led us to choose a U.S. provider for these important services."

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, Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers $1.9 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 $32.7 billion in total authorizations in FY 2011 -- an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6 billion directly supporting small-business export sales -- also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $41 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 290,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.

SOURCE Export-Import Bank of the United States

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