The United States has rejected a request by Chinese airlines for more service to the USA, but done so gently.
How We Reached This Point
U.S. carriers suspended China service in winter, over falling demand and COVID-19 concerns. With the virus thought to be under control outside the latest Beijing flareup, U.S. carriers want to resume service, even if U.S. citizens are still not allowed in the country.
But China declared that only carriers operating on March 12, 2020 could operate between the two nations. Conveniently, only Chinese airlines were operating on that date. Labelled an arbitrary move that violated the bilateral air service agreement between the two nations, the U.S. blocked all Chinese airlines from serving the United States. The ban was due to go into effect June 16.
The ban prompted China to quickly reverse course. Suddenly, U.S. carriers were permitted to operate one flight per week, the same as Chinese carriers. Again, the U.S. pushed back, stating that such limits did not capture the spirit of the bilateral deal and still created an uneven playing field since more Chinese carriers served the U.S. than U.S. carriers serving China.
Earlier this week, the two sides reached a compromise, with each country allowing four flights per week. The U.S. indicated that it would allow more flights if China would allow more flights.
> Read More: U.S. And China Reach 妥协 On Air Service…Delta Will Resume Flights Next Week
Chinese Airlines Want To Add More U.S. Service
The Chinese airlines wishing to serve the USA are more numerous than the U.S. carriers wanting to serve Mainland China. The compromise meant that not every Chinese airline would be allowed to operate to the USA.
Currently, these four flights operate:
- Air China (Beijing [PEK] – Los Angeles [LAX])
- China Eastern (Shanghai [PVG] – New York [JFK])
- China Southern (Guangzhou [CAN] – Los Angeles [LAX])
- Xiamen Airlines (Xiamen [XMN] – Los Angeles [LAX])
Hoping to avoid a game of musical chairs, Chinese carriers requested additional service to the United States after the four flight compromise was reached.
U.S. Gently Rejects Chinese Airlines’ Flight Requests
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation rejected that request. The DOT said its decision was in order “maintain the parity” between the two nations. But it also invited China to open up more routes so the U.S. could do the same. The order was also gentle, in that it went out of its way to reduce tension:
“The Department has conveyed to our Chinese counterparts that this order is a procedural matter only and that it should not be viewed as an escalation on our part.”
The gentle words may allow China to “save face” and loosen its airline restrictions, which would increase air service to both countries.
CONCLUSION
The U.S. has rejected the latest request from Chinese airlines to add more service to the USA. It claims it is doing so on “parity” grounds, but went to great lengths to argue that it is not trying to “escalate” tensions by its rejection. Both countries now have the opportunity to reduce tensions further by being the first to allow additional air service.
US airlines are clearly trying to take advantage of the their new Trump negotiated monopoly and restricted service and keeping prices sky high. The Chinese carriers are treating US travelers much better than US airlines are, and this move only harms US travelers and puts their money in the pockets of the likes of Delta and their $3.5K Y fares to China.
Yet another clueless kneejerk anti Trump response. Chinese airlines were flying to the US, but at the same time blocking US airlines from flying to china, until the administration told China to pound sand…if you want to fly here you will reciprocate. But in your mind this is orange man and us airlines bad? And clearly if you think Chinese carriers are treating passengers better then you’ve never flown one.
Don’t know too much about the details, but it sounds like the *current* issue is more of US carriers not wanting to (re)start flights, rather than them not being allowed to; and as a result, the foreign airlines aren’t allowed to ramp up their own flights (presumingly to meet some kind of demand, given that states are no longer blindly pumping money into airlines in this new era)… hmm…
You don’t know the details, but you’ll comment anyway about your preconceived notions. Did you read the post? Did you miss the party that said “US carriers want to resume service”?
This story is all about China being China. They exploit other countries for their own gain until you push back. Showing weakness to China is not a winning strategy. The world better wake up soon, because a Chinese dominated world is not a world most will enjoy.
You are correct, Agent Orange better wake up soon, with all the pre-pandemic mutual back scratching with Xi he apparently was doing
(Only 130-ish days left in his presidency, how much damage can he really do…actually scratch that thought, he can do a ton)
We’re looking at the political side of this mess, but fail to look at the economic side as well. Chinese carriers can flood the market with availability, but it’s often the originating traffic of the Chinese population. US carriers will not ramp up because there’s not much demand since China’s border closure is still in effect. So, it means only the citizens and permanent residents can travel back. It’s a one-way traffic flow.
I can’t wait till we tear down Agent Orange’s walls and build bridges again.
Your President Trump has done a great deal to level our relationship with China as they routinely steal our technology. On another note, you’ll be thrilled to know that his second term in office will start in roughly 130 days.