Representatives from four U.S. aviation-related organizations on Thursday urged the Biden administration to "pause additional passenger flights" between the United States and 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," according to a joint letter sent Thursday to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
The signatories included presidents of Airlines for America, the Air Line Pilots Association, the Allied Pilots Association and the Association of Flight Attendants–CWA.
In February, the U.S. Department of Transportation allowed the number of weekly passenger flights by Chinese carriers to the U.S. to increase to 50 from 35 beginning March 31. U.S. carriers are allowed the same number, but currently are not operating that many flights.
After China suspended bilateral air services agreements and closed its market to U.S. carriers following the outbreak of Covid-19, its government implemented "strict limits on market access," and imposed rules "affecting operations, customers and the treatment of our airline crew," according to the letter, which added that this "competitive disadvantage" is harmful to the 315,000 workers employed by U.S. passenger airlines that serve China.
The letter also cited the advantage Chinese carriers have in continuing to fly through Russian airspace, which U.S. carriers stopped in March 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, thereby making Chinese-carrier flights shorter than U.S.-operated ones.
Congressional Request
Also on Thursday, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, sent a joint letter to Blinken and Buttigieg to "urge caution in the approval of new flights" between the two countries. It, too, noted an "anti-competitive commercial advantage" for China.
The representatives' letter also stated that "American passengers must not be exposed to unnecessary security risks by traversing Russian airspace. … 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."
DOT declined comment. The State Department declined to comment directly on the letter.