US airlines, unions urge Biden administration not to approve more China flights

Major U.S. airlines and aviation unions on Thursday urged the Biden administration to pause approvals of additional flights between China and the United States, citing ongoing "anti-competitive policies of the Chinese government."

In February, the U.S. Transportation Department said Chinese passenger airlines could boost weekly round-trip U.S. flights to 50 starting on March 31, up from the current 35, about a third of pre-pandemic levels.

U.S. carriers were authorized as well to fly 50 flights per week but are currently not using all those flights.

Airlines for America, a trade group, cited 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 letter, which was first reported by Reuters, was signed by the Air Line Pilots Association, Allied Pilots Association and Association of Flight Attendants.

It called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to "pause additional passenger flights between the United States and the People’s Republic of China until U.S. workers and businesses are guaranteed equality of access in the marketplace, free from the existing harmful anti-competitive policies of the Chinese government."

Flights between China and the United States - which were a point of contention during the COVID-19 pandemic - have emerged as a rare area of cooperation between the two super powers, but U.S. airlines have expressed concern about the rapid pace of increasing flights.

Airlines are worried the Biden administration could boost or even double to 100 the number of weekly flights permitted by Chinese carriers.