Based on the latest Perspective article from Engineering, a journal of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Toward New-Generation Intelligent Manufacturing, and combined with the evolutionary path of intelligent manufacturing in the aviation industry, this paper starts with the traditional human–physical systems (HPS), analyzes the transition from digital to intelligent development of the aircraft manufacturing industry, and expounds the transition of aircrafts from model-based digital definition to digital definition based on the cyber–physical systems (CPS). The new-generation intelligent manufacturing relies on the new-generation information technologies such as cloud technology, Internet of Things, mobile communication, big data, and artificial intelligence to achieve deep integration with humans, equipment, and materials, and its typical feature is the digital twin enabled by the digital thread.