United/Air China same route ethnic distribution

So United and Air China fly two routes that are quite overlapping, SFO-PEK and JFK/EWR-PEK. For each airline, do chinese people (chinese chinese) tend to stick with Air China regardless and americans (including chinese americans) stick with United?

So for Air China's SFO-PEK flight, will I see a higher proportion of people returning home to China whereas on United's SFO-PEK, will I see a higher proportion of people just visiting China?

On ua you'll have about 50/50 while on airchina 90% pax are from china.
This is usually because of brand awareness and local marketing for leisure pax and corporate contracts and government requirements on business travel.

I generally find the majority of passengers on a carrier will hold citizenship in the country where the carrier is flagged. I find this useful as if I opt for a carrier flagged in a country I'm not a citizen of I am often only one of a few clearing immigration as a non-citizen, making my wait time rather short.

Of all my years I never thought of that...but do you think it would only apply to an airline like Air China, Air India, PIA, or JAL (airlines from countries with a more "severe" cross-cultural boundary) but the distribution changes on BA, Qantas or SQ? What has been your experience?

UG

Apart from language barriers (Chinese passengers would naturally prefer Air China for this over United), there is also the cost issue. 'Home airlines' tend to cost more than that of a foreign carrier (that's why you often have many price-conscious foreign travellers flying Air China although the majority remain Chinese).

With BA and VS, there are far more British than US, whereas on UA there are far more US than British - at least IME. First of all, UA is very little known in the UK - it doesn't seem to do any advertising or promotional work. Second, US airlines generally have a very poor reputation. But against those, it tends to be cheaper (but not by enough to pay for the two drinks you need to pay for on UA to dampen the discomfort, which are free on BA and VS).

I've never actually been able to make an upgrade work on a reciprocal carrier. If I think I will upgrade my ticket, I always fly UA/DL/AA/US.

LH also tends to be significantly skewed towards Germans.

From my experience, the United routes from EWR to Germany are quite skewed towards Germans too

I found CO when I lived in the Uk because of the frequent flyer program that provided good points for flying EU airlines. I flew CO only occasionally, even if travelling to US. I liked BA and VS and would fly them but did not like their point system so did not prioritize them by and large. I would say Brits who are not FFs fly their national airlines. Caveat. LHR is a miserable experience (getting there, checking in, getting around, arg)
and for some not in London flying to Schipol is easier, more pleasant and often not more expensive.

Now I imagine same national thinking goes to UA and Air China Were Air China not to have a fairly poor reputation for product then more US folks might fly them. They have little to attract non Chinese customers other than price, perhaps. Anyone in the know might prefer other airlines all together.

This used to be true with CA but their new international product is getting at least as good if not better than UA's. Indeed I've seen about 50/50 on UA versus a higher percentage of Chinese on CA, but this could begin to change. SFO-PEK on CA is still operating the dismal old 747M, in which case UA is better, but on LAX-PEK and other routes CA has switched to their new international 773ER which I must says is very nice. Brand new plane and an all around nice soft and hard product that is also often cheaper than UA, though this may differ depending on where you buy your ticket.

Never flown CA international but CA domestic service is way better than UA domestic service. The only problem is the poor legroom.

Flew SFO-IAH on the UA flight that would be the logical connection for UA arrivals from China. It was 90% Chinese. Didn't ask to see passports, so not sure of citizenship or residence, but flight was definitely a large majority of ethnic Chinese. Of course, some of those people could have been transferring from CA rather than UA for the TPAC portion of the journey.

In Y cabin; Majority on CA are Chinese.

In Premium Cabins on CA it's about 50/50 depending on the route.

This is rough view from 10 flights on CA over the last 3 years.

I flew SYD-PEK last year and 10 non Chinese and one Chinese in Biz. The rest of the plane had no more than 15-20 Non Chinese board (from what I could see at Boarding) - rest of Y was Chinese

US-China, both UA and CA are considered home airlines, depending on which country you're from. CA in this market is cheaper, especially Business Class. UA C fare is outrageous at >$9000.