With China’s C919 jet facing order delays, is Boeing waiting in the wings?

The delivery delays appearing to hit China’s C919 – the home-grown narrowbody jet intended to compete with leading Western models – may lead some domestic carriers to consider more orders with US aerospace giant Boeing, industry insiders said.

With financial reports from major airlines suggesting C919 units have not been arriving as scheduled, manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) may lose a share of its home market to its American rival, they said, despite the safety issues that have plagued the Virginia-based company’s 737 Max model.

“China’s leading carriers have been hungry for new planes for years,” said Yang Bo, an aviation analyst with a Shanghai-based consultancy.

“If they cannot expect timely deliveries of the C919 amid rising uncertainties, some may consider moving orders to Boeing, since the latter is immune from Washington’s export restrictions and is set to beef up production with its worst days likely behind it.”

While the C919’s order outlook could be complicated by geopolitics – analysts said a temporary US export ban on the plane’s engine may have created a supply bottleneck – Boeing has agreed to a plea deal in the charges brought against it over 737 Max crashes, and purchases of US jets could be a concession helping smooth the way to a trade deal between Beijing and Washington.

The recent delays contrast with Comac’s once upbeat targets for C919 production. In March, executives declared at a conference with suppliers they would boost manufacturing capacity by 50 per cent in 2025, delivering 75 planes rather than the 50 previously pledged.

South China Morning Post