In 1930 the Curtiss-Wright Corporation owned a 45% stake in the China National Aviation Corporation, in partnership with the Nationalist government of China. Westervelt selected Bond as the manager for CNAC, and Bond arrived in Shanghai in 1931. The first route ran from
Hankou to
Chongqing, along the
Yangtze River. Since prepared airfields were uncommon at that time, the initial airline fleet consisted of six
Loening Aeronautical Engineering "Air Yacht" flying boat amphibious aircraft, which could land on a river or other open water as well as landing fields. A second scheduled air route between Shanghai to Beijing could not be put into operation until 1933; during this time there was a major flood of the Yangtze river and the Japanese invasion (
Mukden Incident) of mainland China. In 1933
Pan American Airways bought out the 45% share of CNAC that was held by Curtiss-Wright. Pan Am wished to obtain landing rights in China for trans-Pacific routes, but due to international treaties forced on China in the 19th century, granting landing rights to an American company would also require China to grant landing rights to Japan, which had just invaded China. Bond maintained his VP of operations position after the new Pan Am ownership; a new route was added to the CNAC system by Pan Am. In 1937 on the outbreak of the
war between China and Japan, due to growing concerns about preserving American neutrality, Bond effectively resigned from his position at Pan-Am and became a direct employee of CNAC. As the war progressed, Bond realized the importance of an air route between India, Burma and China. In 1941 he wrote a memorandum outlining the possibilities of what was later to be known as
The Hump route. Bond attempted to keep the civilian nature of the airline intact during the war. ==Return to the United States==