Perhaps the trickiest decision in designing a turboprop airliner is choosing the speed. The main point of such aircraft is economy, but speed for a turboprop simply equates to power, and power equates to fuel burn—not to mention engine mass and cost. Moreover, many aviation professionals argue that, over the ranges that such aircraft usually fly, the passenger barely notices even a 20% difference in cruising speed.

The image should be one of a knight in shining armor—or perhaps a hundred of them, riding in from Montreal. Bombardier, offering potentially critical support to the C919 program, expects to begin signing definitive agreements of cooperation with Chinese manufacturer Comac before the end of the year. The deals could conceivably include support with the detail design of the C919, the Canadian company says. It is preparing a proposal to dispatch a team of engineers to help Comac, according to an industry executive.

Chinese aircraft maintainer Gameco will try strict specialization as a way of driving up efficiency, allocating one of its sites to only A320 maintenance. The company is emphasizing scale as well as efficiency at its main base, at Guangzhou, eyeing a third-stage expansion even as it breaks ground on the second stage.