Commentary
Samuel Johnson once said of a dog walking on its hind legs that even though it was not done well, one was surprised to see it done at all.
Such is the increasing indifference I am feeling toward China’s C919 passenger jet, Beijing’s latest effort to break into the global commercial airliner business.
The plane actually celebrated a bit of a milestone a few days ago when—five years after its first flight—it finally received its airworthiness certification from the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
It was supposed to have been certified last December, but continuing delays in flight testing made that a nonstarter. In fact, at the time, the C919 had flown only 34 out of a required 276 flights….