China Entering the Airline Manufacturing Sector With New C919 Aircraft

Many in the airline manufacturing industry laughed at first when China said they were going to produce their own airliners.
Of course, I don't think they were laughing when they figured out that the design China is working on with their C919 looks quite a bit like much of the technology that the United States had previously developed.
But China has a big advantage, they have the ability to learn from all of our mistakes, and since much of it is a design copy, and since they will have the ability to put on late-model jet engines there is a good chance that this aircraft will be fairly competitive for its size.
Who will this hurt the most? It will hurt Russian, Brazilian, and Canadian airline manufacturers.
Although it may not hurt Airbus's new A320 Neo, or the new redesign of the Boeing 737 (Max), it will still take a bite out of sales - especially since Chinese airlines which will feel obligated to buy them through a sense of nationalism, and perhaps even through an unspoken mandate from the Chinese communist government.
That would be my estimation here.
On November 12, 2012 Reuters had an article titled; " Airshow: China sells jetliners, may spur Eastern revival," by Alison Leung and Tim Hepher which stated; "China announced 50 new orders for its new Comac C919 passenger jet at the opening of the country's main air show on Tuesday and looked set to assist in the rebirth of one of the most famous names in aviation -- defunct U.
S.
carrier Eastern Air Lines.
" There was an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal on November 14, 2012 titled; "Initial Jet Made in China Lures More Orders - Domestic Airline Head Interest in 150-seat Plane from State-Owned Comac; For Now, Little Enthusiasm Abroad," which seems to confirm the reports coming out of China that this aircraft is moving ahead and the leadership will encourage, mandate, or perhaps even command that domestic airlines buy it.
Okay so, we should expect this from a nation that prides itself in "State-Run-Capitalism" but how might the US government respond? Hard to say, but as this company becomes more powerful and backed by a powerful growing nation like China, I wonder if; the United States Federal Aviation Administration under President Obama fast-track certification of the Comac C919 to help facilitate trade deals for US companies selling to China? Do I think they will sell these aircraft in the United States? Well, the aircraft will probably be quite a bit cheaper than Boeing or Airbus, and they will also be able to compete with Bombardier and Embraer.
I am quite certain that African, Mexican, and South American airlines will buy them, and anyone in the Asian market that flies into China quite a bit because they will want to be a good neighbor with the Chinese government as that will account for a lot of airline travelers.
And before you think that US airlines won't buy any of these aircraft might I remind you that Delta Airlines is still flying almost 20 DC-9's that are at an average of almost 35 years old.
They will wish to replace those aircraft with similar aircraft, with similar numbers of seats.
I bet the Chinese Comac C919 will be quite cost competitive, and might even be seen as a good investment in that case - ouch, but that's the reality here.
Please consider all this and think on it.