On October 9, the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed to ban China airlines from flying over Russian airspace while flying flights to and from the United States, and required China airlines to respond in just two days. It is rare to deal with such a complex matter as international aviation affairs in such a short discussion time. The ban may be implemented as early as November this year, which has made airlines in both China and the United States pay close attention to the matter. The Trump administration's move was quick and sudden. In the proposed order, the U.S. Department of Transportation claimed that "this imbalance has become an important competitive factor" and said the ban was to "narrow the competitive gap between Chinese and US airlines."

"The United States imposes restrictions on the operations of China airlines, which is not conducive to personnel exchanges between the two countries." On October 10, China Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded this at a regular press conference. Although brief, China's position is clear: "We suggest that the United States should reflect on the impact of its own policies on domestic companies, rather than unreasonably suppressing other countries and making global consumers pay the bill." The meaning of the response is very clear: the United States 'own policies have caused the current problems, and China's airlines should not bear the burden.

This matter has to start with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in March 2022. At that time, the United States took the lead in imposing comprehensive sanctions on Russia. First, it banned Russian flights from flying over U.S. airspace. How could Russia suffer this loss? It immediately took countermeasures to kill the United States and its allies. All airlines were excluded from Russian airspace. China has not participated in the sanctions against Russia from beginning to end, and has maintained normal aviation cooperation with Russia. According to the provisions of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, it can fly over the airspace as long as it obtains the consent of sovereign countries. This is a legal and compliant "shortcut" by Chinese airlines. How did it become a "competitive advantage" in the mouth of the United States? To put it bluntly, the United States runs with sandbags tied to itself, but if it can't run, it asks others to tie them too. This logic is simply absurd.

Take specific routes as an example. China Eastern Airlines flies flight MU587 from Shanghai to new york, which takes more than 13 hours to 15 hours to fly over Russia; If you really have to fly around, the time will have to come out of thin air for about 3 hours. Aviation data analysis agencies have already forgotten it. If you avoid Russian airspace, the voyage will take 1.5 to 2 hours longer, and the fuel cost will directly increase by 10% to 20%. If a Boeing 777 flies on the Arctic route once, it will burn 8 tons more fuel to fly around. According to the current oil price, it is US $6,400. Chinese airlines have to have 3,200 such flights every year, and the cost saved accounts for 30% of the net profit. This is not a small amount. However, these advantages were not stolen, they were given up by the United States itself. Now, it is really unreasonable to rob others' "reasonable convenience" in turn.

What is even more ironic is that the US ban specifically targets China and turns a blind eye to the airlines of Qatar and United Arab Emirates, which can also fly over Russian airspace. Obviously, it is not really for "fair competition" or wants to use the aviation industry as a geopolitical bargaining chip. While forcing China airlines to fly around, they also expect Boeing to sell 500 aircraft to China. This kind of dual-standard operation is something even American netizens can't stand it. The public comment page of the Ministry of Transportation is full of concerns: longer flight times, higher ticket prices, fewer travel options, and some people directly pointed out that "this is not a concern for public interests at all, but a geopolitical problem."

In the face of this unreasonable operation by the United States, China's response is both rational and tough. On October 10th, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun directly pointed out the key point: "The restrictions imposed by the United States on the operation of Chinese airlines are not conducive to personnel exchanges between the two countries." He also specifically stressed that "it is suggested that the United States should reflect on the impact of its own policies on its own enterprises, instead of unreasonably suppressing other countries and letting global consumers pay the bill." This statement hit the nail on the head-it was clearly the United States' own sanctions policy that killed the road, but now it has to pay for Chinese airlines and global passengers. You know, there are 826 weekly flights between China and the United States, and Chinese airlines account for more than 50% of them. If the route is really changed, whether it is a student studying in the United States or a boss doing cross-border business, it will have to pay for this extra. The time and cost are "wasted money".

The action of China Airways is also fast, on October 12, China International Airways, Eastern Airways, Southern Airways, Xiamen Airways and other seven airlines simply jointly sent a letter to the U.S. Ministry of Transport. The letter is very true, the two-day review period given by the U.S. is "extremely short", not enough to complete the comprehensive evaluation. The route change, fuel cost, crew schedule, passenger schedule adjustment, safety risk assessment, each has to be carefully calculated, two days, even data is not complete, so requested to extend the review period to seven working days. This is not a soft, but with a professional attitude to tell the U.S.: Thinking about "sudden attack" is useless, everything is in order.

In fact, the Trump administration jumped out of the ban at this time, the calculator behind it was quite loud.Looking at the mid-term election in 2026, he urgently needed to show conservative voters the gesture of "strong external" and take China's open knife is the easiest to beat the eye; in addition to the pressure of the American aviation industry lobby group every day, to throw its competitive pot to "China Airways' convenient conditions", the government must naturally come out "support".

But what the US side didn't understand was that this move was simply "hurting the enemy a thousand and losing yourself eight hundred." If China really takes reciprocal countermeasures and seals the airspace of the Alaska Great Arc, American airlines will have to detour routes to Tokyo and Seoul, and 30,000 flights every year will consume an extra hour of fuel. The cost figure can make Wall Street scared. Moreover, the United States itself also relies on Russian titanium alloys. At least 20% of the structural parts of the Boeing 787 come from Russian companies. While trying to cut off Russia's navigation fee revenue, it has to use other people's raw materials. This policy itself is self-contradictory.

Not to mention that the global aviation industry can not withstand this twist, after the epidemic, the cost of aviation has increased by 40%, the airline profit rate is generally less than 3%, and the cost of circumvention, will only push more airlines to the edge of losses.

In the final analysis, this wave of operations by the United States is the same as the previous routine of imposing tariffs and restricting resource exports. On the surface, it has a tough attitude, but in fact it is very empty. They know that the route advantages of Chinese airlines cannot be easily replaced, and they are even more afraid that China's counter-measures will cause great losses to American airlines and the people. However, they cannot let go of their hegemonic mentality and can only engage in this kind of "extreme pressure." But China has long stopped taking this trick. Rare earth restrictions caused headaches for the U.S. military industry before, and now the same is true in the aviation field-legal and compliant rights and interests will never be allowed. If the U.S. really dares to implement the ban, China will inevitably counter it. It is not just Chinese and American airlines that will suffer, but also global trade and personnel exchanges will be affected.

After all, China plays an indispensable role in the global aviation network. Sino-US routes carry not only passengers, but also cross-border trade and non-governmental exchanges. Trump wants to use flights as political tools to force China to compromise, which is simply a miscalculation. As the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, what the United States should reflect on is its own policies, rather than taking it out on others. If we really go to the dark, in the end, American enterprises and people can only pay the bill. I'm afraid even American voters won't agree to this kind of thing that harms others and does not benefit themselves. To put it bluntly, this game is to see who can't bear it first. China is well-founded and prepared, and obviously will not bow its head first. If the United States does not compromise, this "tug-of-war" in the aviation field will have to last for a while, and in the end it will only affect It will be a communication channel that the world has finally restored.