«Tu-214 is not a competitor to MC-21»: monopoly will kill progress

The media often voices the opinion that the production of Tu-214 at the Kazan Aviation Plant named after Gorbunov (part of PJSC "Tupolev") suffers from the rapid parallel development of MC-21 at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant. Andrey Zhukovsky, Associate Professor at the Department of Strategic and Innovative Development of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, explained why such a "confrontation" is an incentive, not a threat, for the industry.

The future is being decided

According to him, organizing the production of aircraft is a science-intensive process and requires broad cooperation of suppliers and engineering competencies.

For example, the same Airbus involves 50 countries, and in Russia they were able to build a system within one country. If we consolidate this success, we can be calm about the future of our aviation industry.

Andrey Zhukovsky, Associate Professor

Competition instead of monopoly

Healthy competition, the associate professor believes, supports the development of engineering schools and related industries.

It is not worth contrasting MC-21 and Tu-214, and creating an artificial monopoly is wrong. Even Boeing and Airbus choose different engines — Pratt & Whitney, General Electric and Rolls-Royce.

Andrey Zhukovsky, Associate Professor

The production of two types of aircraft provides jobs and a stable workload for enterprises in the regions.

Two wings of one aviation

Zhukovsky stated that each aircraft provides decades of work for hundreds of enterprises across the country.

Our country needs both Tu-214 and MC-21-310, especially now, when there is an acute shortage of carrying capacity. Unification of parts and personnel development are where it is important to focus.

Andrey Zhukovsky, Associate Professor

The specialist also recalled that the aviation sector is one of the most stable and highly profitable: one aircraft can fly for 30–50 years. Therefore, if an aircraft is produced today, then in theory, until 2075, the manufacturer of certain parts can be sure of the workload of its production facilities.

Earlier www1.ru reported that Russia will earn billions of dollars for the aviation industry by producing SJ-100 abroad.