***Update on 06/03/2020 @ 15:52 UTC- The DOT has served the order and it will go into effect from June 16th***

Donald Trump is drawing up plans to ban Chinese carriers from flying to the United States from mid-June. The ban would be in retaliation for China not yet allowing Delta and United to resume flights to its country.

It seems as though Trump isn't happy with China's delays in granting US carriers with permission to operate services. According to multiple sources, his administration will today publish an order banning Chinese carriers from flying to the United States from June 16th. It would likely remain in place until the CAAC allows US carriers to return to China.

The order officially states:

"The U.S. Department of Transportation (the Department), responding to the failure of the Government of the People’s Republic of China (China) to permit U.S. carriers to exercise the full extent of their bilateral right to conduct scheduled passenger air services to and from China, is suspending the scheduled passenger operations of all Chinese carriers to and from the United States. This order will become effective on June 16, 2020"

Four airlines currently affected

Simple Flying has reviewed the Department of Transportation (DoT) order in question. The DoT has disapproved of the following four airline schedules:

  • Air China;
  • China Eastern Airlines;
  • China Southern Airlines;
  • Xiamen Airlines.
China Eastern Boeing 777 Getty
China's big airlines are doing some international flying, but around at 10% of 2019 levels. Photo: Getty Images

The measures are being implemented as the US doesn't feel that China is allowing it to exercise its bilateral rights fully. However, once Delta and United are allowed to resume their China services, the measure could be relaxed.

Where are Chinese carriers currently flying?

Since May 22nd, the US has required the four carriers mentioned above to file its schedules with the DOT. It had argued that China was blocking US airlines from returning to China.

Delta 777
The Boeing 777-200LR enabled Delta to add nonstop Los Angeles to Australia service. Photo: Getty Images

Air China is currently operating a triangle route that runs from Beijing to Los Angeles to Tianjin to Beijing. This flight is operating once a week. China Eastern Airlines is flying once a week between Shanghai and New York (JFK).

China Southern is again only operating one service per week. This sees its Airbus A380 flying between Guanzhou and Los Angeles. Xiamen Airlines is currently flying Boeing 787 aircraft on a once-weekly flight between its hub in Xiamen (XMN) and Los Angeles.

Finally, Hainan Airlines and Sichuan Airlines are currently not flying to the United States. However, Hainan has filed for daily flights to Boston and Seattle from July 1st and Sichuan has filed for a Los Angeles once-weekly flight. Under this order, both airlines will not be able to operate flights to the United States

Getty China Southern Airplane takeoff
Planes follow set paths while taking off or landing, making squawk codes important to maintain minimum separation. Photo: Getty Images

Why are so few flights operating?

So few flights are currently operating from China to the United States, as a presidential proclamation signed by Donald Trump earlier this year bans those that have been in China in the last 14 days from entering the US except for citizens and some others. With such low demand generated by the ban, more flights aren't necessary.

However, the Chinese aviation industry appears to be leading the way in terms of recovery. Last week Simple Flying reported that for the first time, the number of Chinese passenger flights outnumbered the number of flights operated by US carriers.

Do you think that Trump is right to ban Chinese carriers from flying to the United States? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.