Several large US airlines along with some of their unions have urged the Biden administration to stop approving any more flights between the United States and China. This comes as they said due to “anti-competitive” policies that China imposes on the US carriers.
On Thursday, the airlines and unions claimed that China closed its market to US carriers at the outbreak of the pandemic. They further noted that regulations put in place by China continue to impact American operations and airline crews.
In a letter written to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, they said, “These actions demonstrated the clear need for the U.S. government to establish a policy that protects U.S. aviation workers, industry and air travelers.”
As reported by Associated Press, the letter that was written to Blinken was signed by the CEO of the Airlines for America trade group and the presidents of the Air Line Pilots Association, the Allied Pilots Association and the Association of Flight Attendants.
Number of flights between China and US
The number of flights between China and the U.S. has been rising, however, the numbers are far below pre-pandemic levels. From 31 March, The Biden administration had increased the number of round trips that Chinese airlines can make from 35 to 50 per week. This came after the China’s aviation authority promised to seek an increase in flights by US carriers.
The U.S. airlines said Chinese airlines get an advantage by flying shorter routes through Russian airspace, which has been off-limits to US carriers since Russia invaded Ukraine more than two years ago. They said Chinese airlines also get “certain protections” from China’s government because they are state-owned.
The U.S. industry groups said in their letter that without equal access to China’s aviation market, American carriers will lose flights to Chinese airlines.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Universal Times Magazine staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
