The ongoing news about the Chinese Communist Party’s ban on Chinese airlines from receiving Boeing aircraft and U.S. aircraft components continues to attract attention. Analysts believe that if the ban continues, its effects could backfire, potentially leading to the stagnation or even demise of the domestic C919 aircraft project.
Beijing may not have anticipated that this ban would instead shift media focus to the vulnerabilities in China’s aircraft manufacturing industry.
The Wall Street Journal noted that by involving aircraft in the U.S.-China trade war, Beijing inadvertently exposed a weakness and highlighted the influence of American companies like GE Aerospace, Honeywell International, and RTX on China’s Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac). The C919, which is a key commercial aircraft model of Comac, owes its airworthiness to critical technologies from American companies.
Scott Kennedy, a China economy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, once told Forbes that among the approximately 80 major suppliers listed for the C919 on Airframer.com, only 7 are Chinese, with another 7 being joint ventures.
Bloomberg reported that aircraft manufacturing remains a significant weakness in China’s economy, with the Chinese Communist Party still heavily relying on U.S. and Western industrial technologies.
Key components of China’s domestically produced large aircraft C919 are supplied by foreign vendors, predominantly from the U.S. The aircraft’s engines are from CFM Leap, a joint venture between GE Aviation and France’s Safran Group; cockpit systems, landing gear, and aircraft braking systems come from Honeywell. Various technologies also come from Collins Aerospace under the RTX umbrella.
Furthermore, U.S. companies like RTX, Crane Co., Parker Hannifin Corp., among others, are assisting in manufacturing the C919. Many American companies, including Honeywell and Parker Hannifin, have established joint production facilities in China to support C919’s manufacturing. China is also developing a wide-body jet named C929.
Thomas Black, an industrial and transportation columnist for Bloomberg, commented that the U.S. aiding China’s commercial aircraft design and manufacturing ambitions may have seemed like a strategic move over a decade ago, but the landscape has since changed due to the COVID pandemic and trade wars. The U.S. needs to closely examine to what extent American companies are aiding the Chinese Communist Party in realizing its aerospace ambitions.
Black questioned why the U.S. government would allow American companies to assist Comac in aircraft manufacturing if the Chinese Communist Party no longer permits U.S. companies to sell Boeing aircraft and components to Chinese airlines.
According to reports, in temporarily halting aircraft deliveries to China, Boeing may not face direct significant impacts in the short term, as it can divert those aircraft to other eager operators while Airbus lacks excess production capacity.
The ban imposed by the Chinese Communist Party could not only impact Comac but also put Chinese airlines in a difficult position. These airlines are now confronted with the challenge of maintaining and servicing hundreds of Boeing aircraft in their fleets. Finding alternative aircraft to make up for the shortfall in Boeing planes is no easy task, especially considering Airbus’s limited production capacity and China’s heavy reliance on critical American components. The operational fleet of C919 stands at around 16 aircraft, all operating domestically in China.
With the ban in place, not only will Comac suffer consequences, but Chinese airlines will also face challenges. These companies must address the maintenance of existing Boeing fleets and find new aircraft to replace Boeing planes. Given Airbus’s production constraints and China’s reliance on American key components, this task is not straightforward.