Airlines for America argues US carriers are at a disadvantage in not being able to overfly Russia on routes to China
The trade group representing major US airlines is urging regulators not to allow new Air China flights to New York and Washington, DC.
Airlines for America, which represents most of the largest US carriers, says two flights requested by Air China put US carriers at a disadvantage because Chinese airlines can overfly Russia, saving time and fuel en route.
Air China on 15 September applied to operate two special roundtrip flights in addition to its regular schedule later in the month, coinciding with President Xi Jinping’s White House visit and the United Nations General Assembly.
The trips would go from Beijing to New York’s JFK and Washington Dulles airports on 19 September and 25 September, respectively, “to support travel related to high-level meetings taking place in the United States”.
The Department of Transportation first restricted Chinese carriers in 2020 in response to Chinese limits on US airlines. Those restrictions have since been slowly lifted, with each side now allowed 50 roundtrips weekly each.
Airlines for America argues in filings that allowing the two flights would “establish a mechanism for progressively exceeding that limitation through purportedly temporary schedule supplements”.
No US carriers currently operate flights to China from the US East Coast due to the Russian overflight rules. The detours can add up to 4h of costly flight time, the trade group says.
Airlines for America instead suggests the DOT classify the flights as charters, which are approved separately from scheduled service, to avoid letting Chinese carriers exceed the cap.
“By granting the authority requested here, the US government will be enhancing Chinese airlines’ already exclusive ability to operate nonstop in certain important US markets to the competitive detriment of US airline companies, workers and communities,” it says.
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