Airline Coalition Asks Biden Administration to Block China Flights

Airlines for America (A4A), the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), and the Allied Pilots Association (APA) sent a letter addressed to U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary Pete Buttigieg asking for additional flights between the U.S. and China to be stopped.

On behalf of the United States aviation industry, the coalition is asking to pause additional passenger flights between the U.S. and China. The letter requests that U.S. workers and businesses be guaranteed “equality of access in the marketplace, free from the existing harmful anti-competitive policies of the Chinese government.”

The letter explains that following the outbreak of COVID-19, China “unilaterally suspended the bilateral air services agreement with the U.S. and effectively closed the market to U.S. carriers.” It added that China placed “strict limits” on market access during that period.

Exclusive: US airlines, unions urge Biden administration not to approve more China flights https://t.co/9TDzVYSrPE pic.twitter.com/vtaOzoc9fW

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The letter continues that China imposed “challenging rules” that affected United States operations, airline customers, and the treatment of airline crew. Therefore, the coalition believes this demonstrates a need for the U.S. government to establish a policy that protects U.S. aviation workers, industry, and air travelers. It claims that this competitive disadvantage is “harmful to the approximately 315,000 workers employed by U.S. passenger airlines that serve China.”

The coalition believes that if this issue continues, flights will be “relinquished to Chinese carriers.” Therefore, the coalition strongly recommends that the United States government temporarily halt further flights until U.S. workers and businesses can secure fair access to the marketplace without China’s current anti-competitive policies.

The anti-competitive disadvantage with China worsened in 2022, the letter said, when the country’s airlines continued to access Russian airspace, while U.S. carriers stopped using it as a result of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February of that year. Having to avoid Russian airspace adds time and costs to flights.

There has yet to be a response from Secretary Antony Blinken and Secretary Pete Buttigieg on the issue.