Originally Posted by
seawolf
I agree that this can't be booked as single award but what is being described is not cabotage as CX does not have a US to US passenger route to begin with (unlike QF JFK-LAX but can not transport passengers on an itinerary wholly involving just JFK-LAX).
CX cannot be used as a carrier for an itinerary between two points in the US, even if they are only flying an international itinerary. That is a cabotage violation. That is why AS will not book a single award USA-YVR-JFK. Cathay has the authority to transport passengers YVR-JFK on a single ticket, but not USA-YYR-JFK.
There is a rather famous for FT instance where you could construct itineraries on tickets that violated cabotage, although the carriers were all flying legal routes. Some FT wiseguy decided to fly a DOT complaint for some stupid reason on one of those tickets. Fines for violating cabotage ensued, and that little loophole went away. So yes, the DOT will fine you for cabotage if you let a ticketed itinerary to be constructed that violates it.