Boeing: Ready for China jet

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Boeing’s CEO Jim McNerney isn’t sweating bullets over China’s intent to enter the large commercial aircraft business. During the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call Wednesday, McNerney acknowledged China’s ambition.

“There is no doubt that the Chinese will someday be in the commercial airplane business,” he said.

McNerney estimates that China won’t be a viable competitor for at least 10 to 20 years. The Chinese have said they plan to have a large commercial jet ready by 2020.

Boeing predicts the Chinese will need as many as 2,400 planes in the next 20 years.

“It is a huge market for us,” McNerney said.

“They’ve shown preference for our product over time,” he said.

Some in the industry believe Boeing has helped the Chinese by striking partnerships with them, as Boeing as done for its 787 jet. But McNerney said he didn’t see a reason to discontinue those partnerships. After all, Boeing has earned quite a reputation in commercial plane manufacturing.

“They will find us a tough competitor,” he said.

Forbes recently published an article on China’s large aircraft plans (http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2007/04/25/boeing-airbus-china-ent-manage-cx_kw_0425whartonaircraft.html).