Flying the friendly skies
On regional jets, aircraft carriers, and why it's crucial not to get hung up on the products as much as the systems that build them
Airliners are highly complex systems, even at the 90-passenger size, so it's worth watching as China develops a homegrown industry in large aircraft. Boeing and Airbus have held a duopoly on the really big airliners, with Embraer holding its own in the smaller range, perhaps especially after Mitsubishi shut down its regional jet program.
■ The aircraft themselves will almost certainly prove themselves airworthy enough (flight is pretty unforgiving of flaws), and most of us won't be able to credibly gauge whether they're particularly good or bad. Don't just watch the product itself, watch what's being learned about how to do really complex things.
■ Just as has been the case with the development of China's aircraft carriers, it's not just the output, but the process that is worthy of note. That process forms a whole different discipline from the technical and engineering management of tangible things like civil works projects. In an increasingly contentious international economic and security environment, it's wise not to underestimate the value of learning how to make those abstract systems go.
