Citing what they consider to be an uneven competitive playing field, U.S. airlines and airline industry labor unions have asked the Biden administration to refrain from further increases to the number of flights that Chinese carriers are allowed to operate to the U.S.
"The anticompetitive relationship between the two countries is highlighted by the advantage Chinese airlines receive by continuing to access Russian airspace, while U.S. carriers stopped flying through Russian airspace at the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in March 2022," the trade group Airlines for America (A4A), joined by unions representing pilots and flight attendants, wrote in a letter to DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
In February, the DOT announced that the U.S. flight cap for Chinese carriers would increase on March 31 to 50 roundtrips per week, up from the earlier cap of 35 per week.
Chinese carriers are scheduled to fly a total of 200 U.S. roundtrips this month, according to Cirium flight schedule data, but U.S. carriers haven't followed suit. They're scheduled to fly 143 round trips in April.
The March 31 cap raise was one of a series of such increases over the past year, which has resulted in airlines flying four times as many U.S.-China frequencies this April compared to last. Still, the frequency level is just a quarter of what it was in April 2019, under the U.S.-China air travel agreement that effectively ended during the pandemic.
In their letter, the U.S. airlines and unions wrote that flying over Russian airspace isn't their only concern.
"Even for those flights not operating through Russian airspace, there is still a competitive disadvantage with Chinese airlines enjoying certain protections stemming from the Chinese airlines' relationships with their government. This allows Chinese airlines to operate irrespective of standard market conditions," they wrote.
U.S. airlines' position has won at least some support in Congress.
"Should the U.S.-China passenger carrier market expand without the U.S. government addressing these significant issues, U.S. aviation workers, travelers and airlines will pay a hefty price tag," Illinois Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi tweeted.