Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd, which intends to fly the nation's first large passenger jet in 2014, had asked designers on the project to work 12-hour weekdays and a shift on Saturdays, according to two people involved.

Comac's research center requested most of its 2,000 employees work from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm Monday to Friday, and eight and a half hours on Saturdays for the rest of the year, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified because they aren't authorized to release the details. Workers previously did overtime only for specific projects, the person said. Two calls to Comac's media-relations department on Wednesday went unanswered.

The planemaker is building the C919 as China tries to break the stranglehold that Airbus SAS and Boeing Co have on the global aircraft market.

China Daily-Agencies