China Readies First Airliner

It can hardly be good news for embattled Boeing (BA) or Airbus. China has unveiled the first commercial airliner to be produced inside its borders. It is called the C919 and will be able to carry close to 200 passengers. The airplane is expected to fly in about five years.

China wants to control its own industrial fate and the future of technlogies which are critical to large global businesses. It may become the world’s third largest producer of aircraft which would give it tremendous advantages in supplying its own airlines with planes which are now designed and largely built aboard.

Boeing has identified China as the most critical market for its expansion. The geographic size of the company and its numbers of people make it ripe for ongoing airline expansion. That cannot be said of any other really large nation in the world.

Boeing and Airbus may have trouble increasing their sales sharply if China is in a position to supply its own markets. Global trade rules will almost certainly block China from keeping the two large interntional aircraft companies from bidding for business in the world’s most populous country. But, the mainland does not always allow foreigners a level playing field and the aircraft industry is not likely to be an exception.

Douglas A. McIntyre