A-320 business going to China ?

[Jack MacKelly]

Airbus to take 51 pct stake in A320 China plant

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2006/10/09/afx3075294.html

空中客车A320是一种中短程经济型旅客飞机，由空中客车飞机制造公司生产。这是第一款使用电传操作飞行控制系统的大型客机，飞行员的操纵动作被转换成电子信号，经过计算机处理后再驱动液压和电气装置来控制飞机姿态。从而代替了过去的主要由线缆等机械装置来传输飞行员指令，进而控制飞机的姿态和动作。

http://euronews.net/create_html.php?page=detail_eco&article=387334&lng=1

EADS's Airbus, meanwhile, is hoping to sign an agreement this week to build its first offshore assembly plant in China making A320 planes. It may also announce more orders from Chinese airlines.

[md1101]

looks like studying aeronautical engineering and chinese is going to be a good combination after all...

[heifeng]

I doubt it. Engineers are just the workhorses, there are plenty of engineers in China. The people closest to the money and making those executive decisions to cut costs and bring more work out here can just have the company find them translators for their tours of the new facilities.

[imron]

I have an uncle who does flight planning for commercial airlines in China (i.e. deciding the best routes to fly to minimize fuel/time required etc etc). Not sure if he did Aeronautical Engineering or not, but he would have done something similar. He's based in the UK but regularly flies out to China, or flies people to the UK for training and other things. I bet his company would love it if he spoke Chinese.

Having a sound understanding of what the "workhorses" do puts you in a good position to be the person making those executive decisions 10-20 years from now.

[md1101]

im compelled to agree with imron here. of the engineers who work their way up the managerial ladder the one who can speak chinese will certainly have a nice advantage.

[heifeng]

Well, there is definitely an advantage, plus engineers working their way up the business side of the latter is key! Otherwise I predict a purely technical route is a dead end in the future.

A foreign language is never going to hurt, but if you look at (US) engineering programs many don't even have a foreign language requirement. Engineering degrees are challenging and in my experience I've only known 2 engineers that proactively studied a foreign language while in college. All the other students who knew more than one language grew up abroad and had immigrated to the US. Are GE, Honeywell, Boeing, Airbus going to start some Chinese language courses alongside their six sigma and lean classes for engineers or just find some abroad who can speak passable English? For some experienced engineers to even familiarize themselves with new releases of the software they use everday is already challenging. How successfull is a half hearted attempt to learn Chinese by an adult learning going to be, to discuss topics on a professional level?

Anway maybe it will take 10-20+ years to actually see foreign engineers speaking Chinese, but I think we already know that US engineers are too expensive in general anyway! Hiring freeze in the US, Hiring frenzy abroad.....time to climb that ladder like crazy and learn Chinese! ( Are there many foreign engineers that can speak Japanese from the Japanese boom xxxx years ago? Seriously, I'm asking, it seems like there were some and it was popular for a while, right? )

(off topic maybe, but I've been curious about how good this guy's Chinese is, Shane Tedjarati President, Honeywell (China), I remember reading that he could speak it along with x number of other languages...)

[md1101]

consider it this way. the behind the scenes engineers designing camshafts and writing up c code for a robotic arm probably wont need 2 languages. the engineer that can give design presentations in english and chinese, however, is certainly going to have an advantage. a translator won't do because they wont have the technical knowledge behind what they're saying. little things like this (particularly for engineering firms doing business in china) is going to really help in getting the important job positions. and hey im not half heartedly learning chinese!

[heifeng]

haha good to know, nor am I.

[Jack MacKelly]

Airbus's decision to set up an assembly line in China illustrates the potential challenges ahead for Western jet manufacturers as rivals from developing countries seek to enter their thriving industry.

Airbus, a unit of Franco-German European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., said it had finalized plans to build an assembly plant for its single-aisle A320 jetliners in the Chinese city of Tianjin. Airbus in December said it was studying whether to build an assembly plant in China.

The decision came as Airbus announced that it had signed a contract to sell 170 planes to the Chinese government. The order for 150 planes from the A320 family of jetliners and a commitment to buy 20 of Airbus's proposed A350 XWB two-aisle jetliners gives Airbus a major lift as it tries to recover from recent management upheaval and embarrassing manufacturing problems. The A320s are valued at $9.6 billion at list prices, although major customers typically win large discounts.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-10/27/content_718481.htm

Airbus's ability to clinch the new contract and a previous order with China for 150 planes -- both announced during a visit to China by French President Jacques Chirac -- was likely enhanced by its decision to build a plant in Tianjin. Both orders will be filled partly by assembling planes in the Chinese factory, using components shipped from Europe. Because Airbus's work in China will involve assembly, which is less intensive technologically than other parts of the plane-making process, it likely won't involve technology-trade issues.

Getting a strong foothold in China's vast market could be strategically important for Airbus in the long term. Rival Boeing Co. of Chicago says China will require about 2,880 new jetliners, with a catalog value of $280 billion, by 2025.