On Thursday, April 11, Airlines for America (A4A) and major airline unions in the United States urged the Biden administration to suspend the approval of increased flights between China and the U.S., citing the “continued implementation of anti-competitive policies by the Chinese (CCP) government.”
In February, the U.S. Department of Transportation stated that starting from March 31, Chinese passenger airlines may increase the number of weekly round-trip flights to the U.S. from the current 35 to 50, approximately one-third of pre-pandemic levels. While U.S. airlines are also authorized to operate 50 flights to China per week, the current capacity has not reached that level.
According to an exclusive report by Reuters, the Airlines for America, representing companies like American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, along with unions, wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation and the State Department, mentioning that “Chinese airlines gain an advantage by continuing to enter Russian airspace, while U.S. airlines were banned from flying over Russian airspace since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March 2022.”
The letter, signed by the Air Line Pilots’ Association, Allied Pilots Association, and the Association of Flight Attendants, called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to “suspend additional passenger flights between the United States and the People’s Republic of China until American workers and businesses are ensured equal access to the (Chinese) market, free from the negative impact of harmful, anti-competitive policies of the CCP.”
The dispute over flights between China and the U.S. first arose during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, U.S. airlines are concerned about the rapid increase in flights and fear that the Biden administration may approve doubling the number of weekly flights for Chinese airlines to 100.
In addition, U.S. Representatives Mike Gallagher, Chairman of the House Committee on China, and the committee’s chief Democratic representative, Raja Krishnamoorthi, urged the Biden administration in another letter on Wednesday, April 10, not to approve more flights unless China complies with “existing bilateral agreements and passenger demand begins to recover.”
The representatives stated that Chinese airlines operate routes with unfair commercial advantages and it should not be allowed to increase this advantage unless the number of routes operated by U.S. airlines to China is equal. They also added that “American passengers should not face unnecessary security risks by crossing Russian airspace.”
Before the implementation of restrictions due to COVID-19, over 150 weekly round-trip passenger flights were allowed between the U.S. and China. However, as of August 2023, Chinese and American airlines could only operate 12 flights per week between the two countries.
From September 1 last year, the number of flights between the U.S. and China increased to 18 per week, and then rose to 24 per week starting from October 29. The U.S. Department of Transportation approved 35 round-trip flights for Chinese airlines in November.
In a report by Reuters in June last year, it was stated that the newly approved flights from China to the U.S. would not fly over Russian airspace.