China’s Jet Challenge

Massive, low-grade manufacturing has raised much of China out of poverty. Can high-tech wizardry lift its economy to the skies? China is on a mission to upgrade its factories, a vision that includes the long-held goal of producing passenger aircraft. It’s a market that two companies — Airbus SE and Boeing Co. — have dominated for decades, and one that the Chinese state manufacturer Comac intends to shake up with its C919 jet. There’s plenty of business to go around, with China on course to become the No. 1 market for airplanes and passengers. So should the industry heavyweights of Europe and North America be worried? And how prepared are travelers, both at home and abroad, to embrace “Made in China” aircraft?

After at least two postponements, the C919 successfully completed its maiden test flight in 2017. Within a year, Comac, or Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd., had orders and commitments from 28 mostly Chinese buyers for 815 airplanes. Chinese authorities are now seeking agreements on the plane’s airworthiness with U.S. and European regulators to open the way for flights and sales outside China. The Chinese planemaker is also looking to ride President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative with sales and flight approvals in regions including Southeast Asia and Africa. The C919 is a 158- to 168-seat, single-aisle jet and is built mostly with customized versions of parts from other manufacturers, such as the engine from CFM International Inc., a Franco-U.S. venture. Whatever its impact on Boeing and Airbus, a C919 ready for the market would be a boon for Comac’s web of international suppliers, from General Electric Co. to Honeywell International Inc. Still, full-scale production is several years away and can hardly be assured. Comac’s initial foray into the aviation market — a 90-seat jet called the ARJ21 — took eight years to go from first flight to commercial operation in 2016. Comac executives say the C919 will “definitely” get there faster, with China Eastern Airlines Corp. due to take its first delivery around 2021. After Boeing’s 737 Max — a competitor to the C919 — was grounded in March following a second crash in five months, Comac moved closer to a rare overseas sale to an airline in Ghana. The company has also formed an alliance with Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. to design and manufacture a twin-aisle jet capable of flying from Beijing to New York.