As reported by Business Insider, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) has suspended 44 flights operated by Chinese airlines, in retaliation to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) with respect to temporarily suspending a number of routes to China operated by U.S. airlines.
The affected flights were scheduled for Los Angeles (LAX) and New York (JFK) to five destinations in Mainland China.
The cancellations imposed by the DoT coincide with 44 flights canceled for American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines by the CAAC. Most of these U.S. airlines have rescheduled much of their operations to China through the northern winter season.
The DOT suspension affects the following airline-operated flights:
From Los Angeles (LAX)
- Shenzhen (SZX) by Air China.
- Tianjin (TSN) by Air China.
- Guangzhou by China Southern Airlines.
- Xiamen (XMN) by Xiamen Airlines.
From New York (JFK)
- Shanghai Pudong (PVG) by China Eastern Airlines.
Chinese government regulations stipulate that if five to nine passengers test positive for COVID-19 after arriving in China, air carriers have the option to suspend flights or reduce capacity by 40%, but the DoT claims that in some cases U.S. airlines were not given the option to restrict capacity and were forced to cancel operations to the Asian giant.
In an order issued by the U.S. government they comment, “U.S. carriers, who follow all relevant Chinese regulations regarding pre-departure and in-flight protocols, should not be penalized if passengers, after arrival, test positive for COVID-19.”
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, flights between the U.S. and China have faced several suspensions as a result of the tense health policy. During June 2020, at the height of the initial COVID-19 crisis, the DoT suspended flights to China because U.S. airlines were not allowed to exercise their bilateral rights to conduct scheduled passenger flights.
Also, strong quarantine policies have forced airlines to use stopovers through other Asian destinations to make crew changes.
