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The Transportation Department said that

China was violating an agreement between

the two countries covering flights by each

other’s airlines.

“The Department will continue to engage

our Chinese counterparts so both U.S. and

Chinese carriers can fully exercise their bilateral

rights,” the agency said in a statement. “In

the meantime, we will allow Chinese carriers

to operate the same number of scheduled

passenger flights as the Chinese government

allows ours.”

The department said President Donald Trump

could put the order into effect before June 16.

The four airlines affected by the order are Air

China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern

Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.

Before the pandemic, there were about 325

passenger flights a week between the United

States and China, including ones operated by

United, Delta and American Airlines. While U.S.

carriers stopped their flights, Chinese airlines

continued to fly about 20 times a week between

the two countries in mid-February and increased

that to 34 flights a week by mid-March,

according to the Transportation Department.

United and Delta announced last month that

they hoped to resume flights to China in June, as

air travel has recovered slightly since mid-April.

American’s schedule shows flights resuming

in October; it has not announced any plans to

restart service sooner.

Chicago-based United, Atlanta-based Delta

and Fort Worth, Texas-based American did not

immediately comment on the Transportation

Department order.

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