Originally Posted by GUWonder

A US airline codeshare is not required for all such flights on all such tickets. It may depend on from where you are flying, but for most that (with codeshares) is how they will see it when a foreign carrier is used.

Money paid for tickets with US codeshares -- and foreign carriers can't get US airline codeshares unless the USG pre-approves the codeshares -- have the flight coupons go into settlement such that the US carrier doesn't financially benefit? Come on, I think we all know the answer to that.

The US majors' government relations folk and their other lobbyists have a history of handing out elite status and/or other benefits around DC for a reason of self-interest.