Rapid Travel Chai

“Our China Southern service is good, passenger cabin is big, and China Southern’s flight attendant’s [sisters] more beautiful!” proclaimed a China Southern executive at the inaugural gala held at The Plaza Hotel for the inaugural Guangzhou-New York JFK flight on August 6. (Original Chinese, “我们南航服务好，客舱大， 南航的空姐更漂亮!”

My wife attended through a connection that she helped in the event’s planning. I was out of town…and not invited. With a spouse in a glamorous industry I am inured to it. And I was in India on business.

The morning started early at JFK with traditional inaugural festivities at the airport for which my wife was not going to be at JFK at 7 am.

The evening gala featured typical, excruciatingly long speeches by China Southern’s most senior executives, quick remarks by representatives from JFK Airport and SkyTeam partner Delta, a raffle, and performances by China Southern’s flight attendants ranging from traditional song to plate-spinning Chinese acrobatics.

Notes from our correspondent:

• Boeing international operations vp present gift to china southern chairman.
• Music performance, by beautiful china southern air hostesses.
• Delta executive present third price raffle, an economy ticket.
• Singing performance, by beautiful china southern air hostesses of course.
• China southern might not have Chinese luxury brands at the event, but the beautiful air attendants are key selling point! They can sing, dance and play music instruments – good customer service guaranteed!

My mother-in-law took this flight on Wed this week and did not report any plate-spinning during meal service, though she had a good flight. Nice that luggage connects to China domestic flights without needing to be claimed in Guangzhou. This was on a Delta award, so Delta currently is not blocking this flight, unlike frequent blocking of Los Angeles-Guangzhou. Book it now if you need it.

I have had great experiences on China Southern. Pre-takeoff they welcome all SkyTeam elites in economy with a greeting and glass of water.

Years ago when living in Beijing I had one of my more memorable flight experiences on a likely mis-connect in Guangzhou. Flight from Beijing was delayed and the only onward connection to Kuala Lumpur looked hopeless. I was on a Northwest-issued economy award ticket and a Northwest Platinum/SkyTeam ElitePlus. When the plane door opened a young man had my name on a sign and said, “Run!”

We tore through the airport, down an employee elevator to the luggage level, darted among luggage carts, popped up another elevator for a quick stamp immigration, then back down through the bowels of the airport, spitting out of the labyrinth at the gate and the waiting plane.

For another take on China Southern, One Mile at a Time’s legendary posts are a must-read for their humor and the lively debate and controversy they created with much of the crew reportedly demoted. See China Southern A380 First Class Platinum Private Suite, When Airlines Take Actions Based On Your Blog Post, and the other entries in his China Southern archive.

For more of my wife’s wisdom, see here Smoother Skin for a Smooth Flight and encore Part 2 – Rice Travel Toner , for skin treatments harvested from the hotel breakfast buffet.