In today’s world, China
has begun to venture into markets in which they have very little previous
experience. China’s aviation involvement has grown rapidly over the recent
years. Currently, they are the fastest growing region in the world. It is only
fitting that China would sooner or later begin to venture into the general aviation
field. China has begun to acquire U.S. general aviation companies such as Cirrus,
Continental aircraft engines, Epic Aircraft, Superior AirParts, Thielert diesel
engines, Brantly, and Enstrom Helicopters. Cirrrus CEO Dale Klapmeier notes
that, “owner China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA) is committed to
supporting the company’s development efforts and that the Vision is among
several products on the drawing table” (Aviation week, 2013). Another U.S.
general aviation company that has aircraft built by Chinese companies is
Cessna. The Cessna skycatcher is built by a Chinese company, and they have said
they will start producing jets in the near future. With China able to build and
produce aircraft at a rapid rate, it will make it hard for U.S. companies to
stay competitive.
Flying in general has
become much more accessible in China over the past 15 years. With the amount of
money and people that China currently has, you would think that aviation would
have been integrated a long time ago. According to AIN online, the largest
issue with general aviation growth in china is that the Chinese military has
control over the airspace and currently only about one third of the airspace is
available to general aviation to use, due to it being under an experimental
phase. Once certain airspace restrictions are lifted, general aviation in China
will grow at an extremely rapid rate. They are a competitive people and looking
to be number one in acquiring businesses, resources, and products that would
allow them to achieve and maintain super power status in the world.
With China looking to
build up their general aviation, it will require more employees to work at
these general aircraft companies. All types or production, line, engineering,
etc. positions should increase at a tremendous
rate for a quite some time. Training facilities will also need to be
established, which will require trained pilots to train new pilots. The job
market in this field should be a bright one for those that do not have a
problem with relocating in order to get one of those new positions. China still
has a ways to go before they are on the same level of general aviation regions
such as North America and Europe. They are taking all of the necessary steps to
position themselves to be world leader and future producer of general aviation
aircraft.
Morris, John. "Will China Be the Savior of U.S.
General Aviation?" Will China Be the Savior of
U.S. General Aviation?
N.p., 30 July 1013. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.
Thurber, Matt. "Jason Liao Sees Rapid Growth
For General Aviation In China." Aviation
International News.
N.p., 17 Apr. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.
"China Continues Low Altitude Airspace Trial
for General Aviation." Latest World Aviation
News, Airline News,
Analysis & Research. N.p., 23 Nov. 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.
Qiyu, Feng. "General Aviation: A Promising
Market for Future--China Economic Net." General
Aviation: A Promising
Market for Future--China Economic Net. N.p., 3 Sept. 2013. Web.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that when China finally begins to lessen restrictions on their lower level airspace, the market is going to take off at a rapid pace. The new GA infrastructure there should create a lot of jobs for people looking to relocate. However, as the industry begins to grow, I think there will be a boom in pilot training in China to coincide with it. Relocation may only be a short term option.
ReplyDeleteI read that they were working with the military to open up the airspace for GA and were suppose to have an agreement, but the deadline came and went and nothing happened. It seems like the military isn't too open about sharing their skies. If they don't get that figured out there GA will fall short before they even have the chance to do much.
ReplyDeleteYour statement, “They are a competitive people and looking to be number one in acquiring businesses, resources, and products that would allow them to achieve and maintain super power status in the world” is ditto! I mean look at exactly what China and its companies are doing? Following the present leaders in General Aviation, partnering and even buying the business and even showing what they can offer at Oshkosh. The U.S. needs to look into our future and the pace at which China is following. Losing the all these U.S. businesses will go under the pretext of creating jobs but in all likelihood, these companies will not be run by Americans.
ReplyDeleteI’m curious on where all this growth in China will come from. From what I’ve read, Chinese airspace is very controlled by the military and they are very hesitant to give up control. Low level airspace isn’t supposed to open until 2015. On top of that it could take up to ten years for the infrastructure in china to build to a level needed for substantial growth.
ReplyDelete