Airlines ask Biden not to approve more flights between the US and China

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Airlines and a few of their unions are asking the Biden administration to cease approving any more flights between the United States and China due to what they name “anti-competitive” insurance policies that China imposes on US carriers.

The airways and unions stated on Thursday that China closed its market to US carriers at the outbreak of the pandemic and imposed guidelines that also have an effect on American operations and airline crews.

“These actions demonstrated the clear need for the US government to establish a policy that protects US aviation workers, industry and air travelers,” they stated in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The letter was signed by the CEO of the Airlines for America commerce group and the presidents of the Air Line Pilots Association, the Allied Pilots Association, which represents crews at American Airlines, and the Association of Flight Attendants.

The variety of flights between China and the US has been rising, though it stays far under pre-pandemic ranges. The Biden administration elevated the variety of spherical journeys that Chinese airways could make from 35 to 50 per week, beginning March 31, after China’s aviation authority promised to search a rise in flights by US carriers.

The US airways stated Chinese airways get a bonus by flying shorter routes by way of Russian airspace, which has been off-limits to US carriers since Russia invaded Ukraine more than two years in the past. They stated Chinese airways additionally get “certain protections” from China’s authorities as a result of they’re state-owned.

The US business teams stated of their letter that the ultimate entry to China’s aviation market, American carriers will lose flights to Chinese airways.

Earlier this week Treasury Secretary stated the Biden administration will push China to change an industrial coverage that poses a menace to US jobs. Janet Yellen stated on Monday after wrapping up 4 days of talks with Chinese officers.

She additionally stated in Beijing that they had “difficult conversations” about nationwide safety, together with American issues that Chinese corporations are supporting Russia in its conflict in Ukraine.

But the focus of her journey was industrial coverage, and what the US and Europe describe as manufacturing overcapacity in China. Wealthy nations concern a wave of low-priced Chinese exports that may overwhelm factories at house. Yellen cited the manufacturing of electrical automobiles and their batteries in addition to photo voltaic power gear — sectors that the U.S. administration is making an attempt to promote domestically — as areas the place Chinese authorities subsidies have pushed speedy enlargement of manufacturing.

“China is now simply too large for the rest of the world to absorb this enormous capacity. Actions taken by the PRC today can shift world prices,” she stated, utilizing the acronym for China’s official title, the People’s Republic of China. “And when the global market is flooded by artificially cheap Chinese products, the viability of American and other foreign firms is put into question.”