U.S. Airlines Oppose Air China’s Additional Flights

Airlines for America, which represents American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and others, opposed on Friday, September 19, 2026, Air China's request for two additional Beijing flights to New York (JFK) and Washington Dulles (IAD) this week and next. The request coincides with Xi Jinping's September 24 White House meeting with Donald Trump during a two-day state visit. Bilateral rules cap each side at roughly 50 authorized weekly flights; about 48 operate, down from more than 300 weekly flights before the pandemic. Air China already flies five weekly services each to New York and Washington. Contested: U.S. airlines want the flights classified as charters, not scheduled service. Airlines for America said Chinese carriers have "shorter, less costly, and more economical routings on flights to and from China and the United States," reflecting access to Russian airspace closed to U.S. carriers since March 2022, when Russia barred them in retaliation for the U.S. ban on Russian flights after the Ukraine invasion. An October 2025 Transportation Department proposal to bar Chinese carriers from Russian airspace on U.S. routes was shelved after other U.S. agencies opposed it and amid trade talks with China. The Transportation Department and a U.S. lawyer for Air China did not immediately comment.