Enthusiastic Chinese waved and shouted Sunday from Shanghai\u2019s Hongqiao International Airport, as the first homegrown passenger jet took off for its maiden commercial voyage.<\/p>\n
China hopes the C919, a narrow-body aircraft designed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, or Comac, will first compete with Boeing\u2019s AIR, The C919 flight, run by China Eastern Airlines CHEAF, In a video posted on Chinese social media, a man could be heard saying, \u201cLook at that \u2014 beautiful,\u201d while two fire trucks sprayed the airliner with water cannons in a celebratory welcome.<\/p>\n Shanghai-based documentary maker Christian Petersen-Clausen was among the first foreign customers to ride on the C919, on a Tuesday flight, and said he was struck by the level of excitement at the airport, on the plane and online. \u201cI saw a lot of pride and joy, and I think folks see it as a milestone,\u201d he told MarketWatch.<\/p>\n Not only is the aircraft a source of tremendous esteem for regular Chinese; it is another sign that the country is moving up the industrial ladder toward assembling high-technology products, at a time of increasing concern from neighbors and Western countries that see China\u2019s rise as a threat to geopolitical stability.<\/p>\n But getting the jet airborne wasn\u2019t easy, with a slew of manufacturing setbacks that have made its production a 16-year slog. Moreover, many of its key parts are still produced in the West, mostly from the U.S. \u2014 a country that appears keen to squeeze China\u2019s ability to acquire high-level technology.<\/p>\n Add to that the fact that financial struggles continue for China\u2019s biggest carriers, including China Eastern, which will run the first daily route of the C919 between the cities of Chengdu and Shanghai.<\/p>\n The \u201cbig three\u201d state-owned players \u2014 Air China 1055, CHKIF, Part of the problem appears to be attributable to China\u2019s slow crawl back after the pandemic to allowing overseas flights, which are mostly run by bigger carriers, while smaller competitors focus on domestic regional routes, according to public flight data.<\/p>\n China\u2019s smaller private carriers also lowered their prices in the first quarter, while the state-owned giants generally did not. The government\u2019s fingerprints appeared discernible. In February, several carriers told Chinese financial-news outlet Caixin that the powerful State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission actually restricted seven state-owned airlines from steeply cutting prices on major routes.<\/p>\n As a result, the private carriers are thriving. In the quarter that the big state-owned airlines bled cash, the three leading private carriers all reported strong profits and revenue.<\/p>\n That robust performance came after a crippling 2022 for the three carriers \u2014 Spring Airlines Speaking to reporters Tuesday from a Boeing factory in South Carolina, the U.S. company\u2019s chief executive officer, Dave Calhoun, said Comac\u2019s new C919 \u201cis a good airplane,\u201d but he shrugged off the prospect of competition from China.<\/p>\n He said China simply doesn\u2019t have the production capacity to meet the needs of such a vast country. Last year, Boeing forecast that China\u2019s commercial fleet will double in number by 2041, adding 8,485 new aircraft, to match passenger demand.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good news for everybody is that three providers in a growing global market of this size and scale should not be the most intimidating thought in the world,\u201d Calhoun said.<\/p>\n Comac\u2019s fate may also depend on how harshly American policy seeks to punish China\u2019s tech rise. In 2021 then-President Donald Trump temporarily added Comac to a blacklist of entities owned or controlled by the Chinese military, after previously saying he supported selling U.S.-made jet parts to China. Later lists did not include Comac.<\/p>\n In April, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, both Florida Republicans, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce demanding that Comac be blacklisted. So far it has not been.<\/p>\n
\n BA,
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\n 737 Max and Airbus\u2019s
\n 0KVV,
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\n A320 \u2014 and eventually break the decades-long duopoly of those Western industry leaders.<\/p>\n
\n 670,
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\n left Shanghai and arrived at Beijing\u2019s Capital Airport two hours later, with state television streaming the event and observers gathered for the departure and arrival.<\/p>\n
\n 601111,
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\n and China Southern Airlines
\n 600029,
\n
\n
\n
\n alongside China Eastern \u2014 lost a combined 8.6 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) in this year\u2019s first quarter, according to company filings.<\/p>\n
\n 601021,
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\n Hainan Airlines
\n 600221,
\n
\n and Juneyao Airlines
\n 603885,
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