HAWKER Beechcraft, a US plane maker based in Wichita, Kansas that was founded by Walter Beech, one of America's greatest aviation pioneers and former World War I flyer, and his wife in 1932 is now betting its future on Chinese industrialist Shenzong Cheng and his wife, Qin Wang.

The company is fighting for its survival in a bankruptcy court and recently reached an agreement to sell its business jet and general aviation operations to Mr Cheng's company, Associated Press reported.



Hawker Beechcraft, which filed for bankruptcy protection in May, plans to sell its civilian aircraft operations to Beijing-based Superior Aviation Beijing Co. for US$1.79 billion. Sixty per cent of Superior is owned by a private entity entirely owned by Mr Cheng and his wife, while an economic development company controlled by the Beijing municipal government holds the other 40 per cent.



Sales of the small and mid-size business jets made by three major manufacturing facilities in Wichita have plummeted, with more than 13,000 aircraft workers in the city losing their jobs since the recession started in 2008. Another blow to Wichita came earlier this year when Boeing announced it was closing its local defence plant.



Meanwhile, Wichita-based Cessna Aircraft Co. said earlier this year that it foresees China becoming one of the top 10 countries for business jet ownership globally by 2025. Cessna signed agreements in March with Aviation Industry Corp. of China, or AVIC, and the Chengdu government, saying the deal would pave the way for light and mid-size business jets, utility single-engine turboprops and single-engine piston aircraft to be manufactured and certified in China.



That deal was followed in May with another agreement Cessna signed with AVIC subsidiary China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co., or CAIGA, and the Shijiazhuang municipal government. The deal was a step for the final assembly, sales and customer support for the Cessna Caravan in China for the Chinese market. The planes would be built in Kansas and shipped to Shijiazhuang, China, to undergo final assembly before being sold in China.



CAIGA last year bought the parent company of Cirrus Aircraft in the United States. Not only did the Chinese-based firm keep its US employees, but also it pumped in $150 million in development costs to boost its light jet production. The plane, whose development had been slowed for years by lack of money, will be built in Cirrus' hometown of Duluth and in Grand Forks, North Dakota.



Analyst Cai von Rumohr of Cowen and Co. said if Superior is interested in Hawker Beechcraft's civilian operations as a strategic investment, as it claims, then it is probably going to get into the business jet market. However, he is sceptical Superior will keep all manufacturing in the US because the company would be at a cost disadvantage.



However, it's also unlikely Superior would move its entire production line to China because it then would lose its Federal Aviation Administration production certificate, said Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst with Teal Group, a Fairfax, Virginia-based aerospace and defence analysis company. Ultimately Superior may just keep just some operations, such as Hawker's parts and distribution business. Superior is not a major aerospace player in China, and it is not clear whether its investors have the necessary connections to open up that market, he said.