By the time they get to merging US will also have an authority on their CLT-PHL-ANC-PEK A330 service.Perhaps the pound of flesh AA might get from the Feds after the FAA debacle is another frequency or two to China (i.e. does anyone really expect DOJ to allow UA/CO and DL/NW to hold all but one of the available China authorities?).
And with UA requesting postponement of their SFO-CAN today due to gas prices (so they say), who really wants all those China routes anyway?