Chinese airlines offer three nonstop flights to China from Los Angeles, but James Rice always hops on a U.S. carrier even though it means stopping over in another city, adding several hours to his trip.
"Seats are small, food is bad and service is a little grouchy," Rice said of the Chinese airline that has a nonstop flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Shanghai, where he runs Tyson Foods Inc.'s China operations. On one flight, the carrier, China Eastern Airlines, forgot to load food for its journey to Los Angeles, he said.
But with burgeoning demand for travel to China, even carriers with connecting flights are often crowded these days, Rice said. Return trips are even worse, which led Rice to once consider flying back to the U.S. by way of Europe.
That's why Rice and other U.S. business travelers are rooting for United Airlines, the largest carrier at LAX, in its bid to start nonstop service to Shanghai in 2009.
The UAL Corp. subsidiary would be the first U.S. carrier to offer a direct flight to any city in China from LAX.
"I'd be absolutely thrilled," Rice said. "It'd be very convenient for me."
But Chicago-based United faces stiff competition from other major domestic carriers who have proposed different city routes as they battle for a limited number of rights to fly from the U.S. to China.
Los Angeles is being pitted against cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago and Atlanta in what has become one of the more heated lobbying efforts in Washington.
At stake is an estimated $200 million in annual revenue that a U.S.-China route can bring to an American carrier. Also, the number of U.S. passengers flying to China has been growing 10% annually for the last several years, twice the growth rate of any other transpacific traffic, according to the International Air Transport Assn.
"China is considered the next big thing," said George Hamlin, managing director of aviation consulting firm Airline Capital Associates Inc. "Nobody wants to be left behind."
Although demand is outstripping available seats, China has been protective of its domestic airlines and has limited foreign carriers from offering direct flights to the country. It remains one of the few countries with such restrictions.
U.S. airlines currently operate only seven nonstop flights to China, the world's most-populous country. In addition, Northwest Airlines Corp. has three connecting flights via Tokyo, and dozens of other connecting flights to China are offered by Asian carriers such as Korean Air or Asiana Airlines.
