Unable to fly through Russian airspace because of the war in Ukraine, US airlines are stepping up a lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill and at the White House to address what they say is a growing problem: They are losing business to foreign competitors like Air India and Emirates who can take passengers between the US and Asia faster and more cheaply.
These airlines are effectively banned from polar routes that save time and fuel between the US and an array of destinations on the other side of the world. Now US airlines are pressing the White House and Congress to subject foreign carriers from nations not already banned from Russian airspace to the same restrictions applied to them, effectively forcing them to fly the same routes as their American competitors.
US airlines have altered flight plans to ensure they would have somewhere to land in an emergency, reduced passenger and cargo loads to hold down costs as they fly longer distances, and put onhold more than a dozen planned new routes.
On its route from New Delhi to New York, American Airlines has been forced to stop flights in Bangor, Maine — an hour and a half short of the mark — on 19 occasions, a person familiar with the recent history said. Those stops,which were typically caused by unfavourable winds or weather that depleted the jet fuel supply and ran out the flight crew’s duty hours, delayed passengers and forced a swap-out of 14 pilots and flight attendants.
Those flights were already operating with dozens of the seats deliberately left unfilled, the person added, because less weight on board was required to make the fuel last as long as possible.
Yet many foreign airlines are not banned from flying over Russia, US airlines and their lobbyists say — and are winning more passengers on routes to and from the US as a result. Continued access to the shorter and more fuel-efficient routes that Russian airspace provides is giving carriers like Air India, Emiratesand China Eastern Airlines an unfair advantage, the industry lobbying group Airlines for America said.
Airlines for America estimated the lost annual market share of US carriers at a collective $2 billion per year. The Biden administration should “take action to ensure that foreign carriers overflying Russia do not depart, land or transit through US airports”, said Marli Collier, an Airlines for America spokeswoman.
Transportation department officials declined to comment. But national security officials are mindful of the potential diplomatic consequences of steps aimed at a long-time ally like India, or of adding further tension to the already strained relationship with China.
These airlines are effectively banned from polar routes that save time and fuel between the US and an array of destinations on the other side of the world. Now US airlines are pressing the White House and Congress to subject foreign carriers from nations not already banned from Russian airspace to the same restrictions applied to them, effectively forcing them to fly the same routes as their American competitors.
US airlines have altered flight plans to ensure they would have somewhere to land in an emergency, reduced passenger and cargo loads to hold down costs as they fly longer distances, and put onhold more than a dozen planned new routes.
On its route from New Delhi to New York, American Airlines has been forced to stop flights in Bangor, Maine — an hour and a half short of the mark — on 19 occasions, a person familiar with the recent history said. Those stops,which were typically caused by unfavourable winds or weather that depleted the jet fuel supply and ran out the flight crew’s duty hours, delayed passengers and forced a swap-out of 14 pilots and flight attendants.
Those flights were already operating with dozens of the seats deliberately left unfilled, the person added, because less weight on board was required to make the fuel last as long as possible.
Yet many foreign airlines are not banned from flying over Russia, US airlines and their lobbyists say — and are winning more passengers on routes to and from the US as a result. Continued access to the shorter and more fuel-efficient routes that Russian airspace provides is giving carriers like Air India, Emiratesand China Eastern Airlines an unfair advantage, the industry lobbying group Airlines for America said.
Airlines for America estimated the lost annual market share of US carriers at a collective $2 billion per year. The Biden administration should “take action to ensure that foreign carriers overflying Russia do not depart, land or transit through US airports”, said Marli Collier, an Airlines for America spokeswoman.
Transportation department officials declined to comment. But national security officials are mindful of the potential diplomatic consequences of steps aimed at a long-time ally like India, or of adding further tension to the already strained relationship with China.
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