Can China’s New C919 Jet Really Compete With Boeing and Airbus? – Jalopnik

For decades, the commercial aviation market was dominated by two major airlines: Boeing and Airbus. China wants to change the game. State-owned aircraft maker Comac developed the C919 aircraft to compete directly with the workhorses of the aviation world, the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 series. The C919 was successfully introduced into service by China Eastern Airlines in 2023 and so far they have received hundreds of orders, the majority of which were placed by Chinese airlines.

Nevertheless, the C919 still has a long way to go before it can truly compete with these giants of the aviation world. Outside of China, flying in the US or Europe is not yet allowed. Those approvals could take several years. Moreover, while Comac has demonstrated that it is capable of building a fully functioning aircraft, producing hundreds of them in a short time is a completely different story. Boeing and Airbus have decades of supply chains, global service networks and trusted reputations among airlines. Comac is not even close to reaching that production level.

Yet there is some hope. With Boeing mired in production issues and Airbus having sold out of its narrowbody liners for a decade, there is a potential opening in the market that Comac can get through – if it can manage to ramp up its production to meet current industry demands.

China calls the C919 its first homegrown large passenger jet, although this may not be the whole truth. The plane consists mainly of parts sourced from the West and is rumored to have been built with possibly stolen American expertise.

GE and Safran are supplying the aircraft’s engines, Honeywell the avionics and landing gear, and Parker Aerospace the flight controls. Replacing these components is not easy because aviation certification makes switching suppliers slow and expensive.

However, this dependence on western parts entails both a risk and an opportunity. US export controls or tariffs would hamper production – although this could simply push China to build its own aerospace supply chain more quickly. It has done this before in other industries, using state subsidies and long-term planning to catch up.

Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Comac to make the C919 successful, including selling the planes below cost to local airlines. The strategy is to develop a foundation for a future in which China will not require Boeing and Airbus to support their airlines.

The real challenge for Comac is global perception. With the growing trends in customer satisfaction, airlines are placing much more importance on reliability and passenger confidence, which are becoming differentiators for them. At this time, the C919 is not viable outside its home market. Although China’s aviation regulator has certified it, without certification from Europe’s EASA or the US FAA, it has little chance of survival if it cannot fly internationally. Even if the country somehow manages to overcome that barrier, convincing foreign airlines to invest in and rely on a Chinese aircraft will take time and a lot of serious marketing effort.

Comac could potentially play on price as it competes. If it sells the C919 for 10 to 20 percent less than, say, an A320, cost-sensitive airlines in Asia, Africa and Latin America could make the switch to the cheaper option.

This has been done a few times in history. Airbus faced the same kind of skepticism when it started out in the 1970s. However, thanks to government support and continued innovation, it is now the proud equal of Boeing, with the A320 recently surpassing the Boeing 737 as the most popular aircraft of all time. Comac could follow in Airbus’ footsteps by starting slowly and state-funded. For now, the C919 won’t break the duopoly between Boeing and Airbus overnight. However, it is a credible start, and its success would signal that China can build its own aviation ecosystem.