American Airlines has applied to the US DoT for permission to fly daily between Los Angeles (LAX) and Beijing (PEK), pitting it against rival Delta Air Lines for the route authority. Delta earlier this month sought permission from DoT for daily LAX-PEK flights. With only 7 weekly US-China route slots remaining available to US carriers, DoT will have to choose between American and Delta for the LAX-PEK flights. Both airlines said they would like to launch the service Dec 16, 2016. No US airline currently operates between Los Angeles and Beijing nonstop. The only airline operating the route is Air China, and United Airlines codeshares with Air China on the route. American does serve PEK from Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago O’Hare, while Delta serves PEK from Seattle and Detroit. <br/>