Boeing expects increasing competition from China, others

    Friday March 19, 2010 

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh believes China will become a significant competitor in civil aircraft manufacturing, but he does not expect COMAC's C919 to achieve a major sales presence outside the country. 

"It will probably be a good airplane. Will that be the airplane that they market outside China? Probably not," Albaugh told media this week at Boeing offices in Arlington, Va., adding, "But the airplane after that and the one after that. . .We have to look at China as a real competitor for years to come."

He added, "The Chinese are where Airbus was 25-30 years ago. The Chinese government has said they are going to make a significant investment in commercial aerospace. . .They are going to put the best and brightest on the program." Albaugh, who joined BCA from the company's space and defense business units, pointed out that "only three countries have put a human into low Earth orbit and one of them is China. If they can do that, they can do just about anything they want to do."

At the same time, he made it clear that Boeing intends to fight hard for a share of the airliner market in China. "It's a big market--about 200 airplanes a year for a lot of years. Clearly the C919 will command part of that. We want to make sure that we continue to be a major player there," he said.

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