law - China's airlines form a cartel and talk about it

Making price arrangements in industries might be banned and even prosecuted in North America and Europe, in China airliners not only agree to prevent competiton, they even inform the Financial Times about it. Protecting the interests of the consumers is just not as important in China.
Fortunately, some of the quoted analysts do not think it will survive:

Li Shurong, of Shening & Wangguo, said price agreements can seem effective
at times of high demand but meant little in quiet months. "This kind of alliance
is unreliable," he said.