Two recent news bits caught my attention.  Unfortunately, they also made me a just a touch nervous.  I hope that I’m not being hypocritical.

First, I noticed that United Airlines is currently outsourcing aircraft maintenance…

“Currently, United is outsourcing heavy maintenance of its 747s and 777s to China and South Korea, and is exploring selling off its key San Francisco maintenance facility. The FAA does not require foreign companies to perform drug or criminal background checks on their employees. Foreign companies are also not required to employ FAA-certified mechanics.”

As a long time frequent flier on United (UA889 & UA857 are particular favorites), I was not particularly thrilled to learn this.

Then I saw that Cessna is planning to build a new airplane in China.

“…officials of Cessna and its corporate parent, Textron, Inc., struck an agreement with China’s Shenyang Aircraft Corp. under which the Chinese firm will become the exclusive manufacturer of Cessna’s new Light Sport Aircraft, the Skycatcher. The Skycatcher is a lightweight, high-wing, two-seat aircraft that carried an introductory price of $109,500 when Cessna began taking orders for it at this summer’s Experimental Aircraft Association convention in Oshkosh, Wis. (BA, July 30/44).”

According to Bloomberg.com, Cessna believes that this arrangement will allow them to hit a price point low enough to make private aircraft more broadly available.

“Textron Inc.’s Cessna unit, the world’s biggest maker of business jets, will build its latest aircraft exclusively in China to cut costs, the first plane the 70-year-old company will manufacture outside of Kansas.

Cessna’s new 162 SkyCatcher light sport aircraft will be assembled by China’s Shenyang Aircraft Corp., Textron said in a statement. The $109,500 plane, which has 900 orders, will be made in the northeastern city of Shenyang, said Chen Yongman, senior vice president of the Chinese company.

Cessna has boosted sales in China as the country’s growth rate of at least 11 percent makes private jets, yachts and other luxury goods affordable to more people. Aircraft manufacturers, including Airbus SAS, are also moving some production to Asia’s second-largest economy to cut costs and woo Chinese customers.

“The key to achieving 900 orders within four months of announcing the model is the aircraft’s affordability,” said Jack Pelton, chairman and chief executive officer of Cessna, in a video speech today in Beijing. “The key to achieving that price point is our partnership with Shenyang Aircraft.”‘’

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Here’s an image that comes to me every time that I fly on a domestic airline in China:

`nuff said.