US carriers object to Air China's request for two more East Coast flights

Major US carriers are pushing back against Air China's bid to add two more roundtrip frequencies linking Beijing with New York and Washington. The objection was filed in the Department of Transportation's public docket on September 17, 2026.

Airlines for America, whose members include American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, argues the extra flights should be handled as charters rather than scheduled service. Approving them as scheduled flights could, in the group's view, create a precedent for Chinese carriers to pursue further regular frequencies while the two sides remain at odds over Russian airspace.

The dispute turns on routing economics. Chinese operators can fly through Russian airspace on some services, cutting distance, time and fuel burn. US carriers are barred from those routes. Russia closed its airspace to American airlines after Washington banned Russian aircraft in March 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine; Chinese airlines were not covered by that restriction. A4A contends the resulting detours leave US airlines unable to compete on key nonstop routes between the East Coast and China.

The objection follows an earlier American attempt to impose matching routing limits on Chinese carriers. In October 2025, the department floated a plan to stop Chinese airlines from using Russian airspace on US services, saying the imbalance had hurt US competitors. That proposal was set aside before trade talks with China after other US agencies objected.

Air China's request is tied to Chinese President Xi Jinping's planned visit to the United States, rather than to a permanent expansion of service, according to Reuters. China's Foreign Ministry says Xi is due to travel to the US from September 23 to 25, 2026, for talks with President Donald Trump.