Chinese General Aviation

Through recent history, there has been a large-scale shift in industry from the western nations such as the United States to eastern countries such as China. In every form, manufacturing has found a new home in China due to cheap labor in many cases. When shopping at a US store, it is almost impossible to find a product not made in China. The Toshiba computer I am using to type this blog is made in (you guessed it), China. With the global economy affecting domestic markets in this way, there are bound to be aviation manufacturers that are looking to cut costs by utilizing cheap Chinese labor as well.

This occurrence has already begun and is starting to threaten the jobs of millions of Americans. In 2009, Cessna released the 162 SkyCatcher as a light sport aircraft aimed mainly at flight schools for primary flight training. This American aircraft manufacturer decided to produce this SkyCatcher in China due to reduced costs. The  Shenyang Aircraft Corporation is solely responsible for the production of the 162 while Cessna provides only engineering support on-site in China (Textron, 2007). This is just one example of a great American aircraft producer that has completely outsourced its manufacturing of a product line to China for greater profitability. This new product from Cessna would have produced many jobs here in America, not to mention the fact that the product ultimately failed in part because of the perception Americans have towards foreign built vehicles, not to mention airplanes.

There has been a rapid growth in the Chinese general aviation industry due in part to the government making more airspace available for public use.  "The CAAC will start designating certain low-altitude general aviation corridors. The general aviation airspace will be restricted to below 1000 meters (DuBose, 2010)". This opening up of previously restricted airspace has allowed Chinese citizens that are well off, achieve a private pilot license. This has almost never been heard of until now, previously, one would only attempt flight training in order to fly for an airline. In addition to this, China's economy is booming, with industry ramping up to support American products being made, people are making money. When they start to make money, they want to spend that money, when they want to spend that money, they spend it on aviation (among other things). This growth in wealth is creating a thirst for aviation in China like no one has seen before. They have been sheltered in the past from this industry due to poverty and a nonexistent infrastructure. Now that there is movement, they want to travel, making airlines more in demand as well as general aviation.

The relationship between the U.S. general aviation manufacturers such as Cessna that have ties to China and the growth in the Chinese general aviation industry are not that significant. These maufacturers that include Hawker Beechcraft, Cessna, Cirrus and many others, are just using China as a production facility to assemble the craft cheaply, then ship them back to America and other western countries for use. This is due to the slow growth that is actually happening in China, although there have been movements to unrestrict airspace throughout the country, there is still only 25% usable airspace for civil use. This has caused this rapid growth in the general aviation sector in China to be stunted, without an infrastructure, this industry will be slow to develop throughout the country.  "Based on statistics on the number of aircraft and hours of use, there is a larger general aviation industry in North Dakota alone than in all of China (Jackson, 2012)."

What does this mean for Americans and opportunities in our own country for growth in the general aviation sector? The general aviation industry in the United States has been around and strong for many decades. Beginning after WWII, pilots returning home wanted a way to continue to fly so companies like Cessna and Piper produced affordable aircraft to these pilots in large quantities. This continued throughout the century and peaked in the 1980s just before falling flat on its face. Companies stopped producing light aircraft altogether due to liability costs, since then, the General Aviation Revitalization Act has helped GA back on its feet but it has never been the same since. Because of this and other factors such as 9/11, the general public has a negative view now of aviation saying that it is dangerous and costly. This shift in thinking has slowly caused less and less pilots to be certified each year across the country and threatens to end general aviation for good because no U.S. companies want to invest in the industry, but China does. Multiple companies are looking to invest further in technologies that will move general aviation forward such as Bin Ao Aircraft Industry Co. in the Shandong province, which has built 96 complete Diamond DA40D four-place single-engined diesel-powered light aircraft out of orders for 235, and is now supplying composite airframes to Austria-Diamond as required, and components to the European company’s Canadian operation (Morris, 2013). This is a good thing for people in America that still care about private flying, this means that all is not lost and there will still be growth and jobs available in the future. General aviation is and always has been an important part of the industrial strength in the United States, and it is China who will save this once great industry for Americans.

Textron, Cessna. (2007, November 27). Cessna chooses China's Shenyang Aircraft Corporation as manufacturing partner for model 162 SkyCatcher [Press release]. Retrieved from http://investor.textron.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=110047&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1081831&highlight=

DuBose, C. (2010, October 24). China designates low-altitude airspace for general aviation.China Aviation Law. Retrieved from http://www.chinaaviationlaw.com/tag/low-altitude-airspace/

Jackson, C. (2012, May 10). China's general-aviation flight of fancy. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304451104577391650977428024

Morris, J. (2013, July 30). Will China be the savior of U.S. general aviation? [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx?plckBlogId=Blog:7a78f54e-b3dd-4fa6-ae6e-dff2ffd7bdbb