Air China started its China-U.S. route in 1981, but now is exploiting opportunities in the booming China business trade in advance of the Lunar New Year of the Boar. As general manager, Air China Los Angeles Zihang Chi announced, “We are totally committed to the U.S.-China market. Our CEO has stated that he who prevails in the U.S.-China market conquers the world.”
So what has Air China done to bring their service above and beyond their competition?
“We offer value and we offer comfort. Our seat width in first class is 27 inches versus United’s 21.5 inches and American Airlines’ 21-inch wide seats. Likewise, our coach class seat widths are 22,” compared to UAL’s and AA’s average 20″ seats,” Chi informed us.
Air China is the only nonstop carrier between L.A. and Beijing, and one of only two carriers with nonstop daily service between New York and Beijing.
Chi added, “We are one of the very few carriers that still provide our customers with freshly prepared meals, whereas most other carriers offer only frozen meals that are thawed and toasted on board.” Air China is also closely aligned with United Airlines’ mileage reward programs and the group’s Star Alliance international group.
“Economy-wise,” Chi added, “our first- and business-class fares are way, way lower than our U.S. competitors. On the objective side of service, i.e., the seats, TV and other amenities, we have become very competitive. So when you combine our lower fares and our state-of-the-art equipment, what do you get? I’d say — you get value! concluded Chi.
Today, Air China routes are Shengyang-Beijing-Los Angeles, Beijing-New York and Shanghai-Beijing-SFO.
Before, China travel was done mostly in groups, but that is all changing. Chi explains, saying, “That’s changing, primarily because China for the most part is no longer so strange a country and people feel comfortable going individually.”
As more commerce and other links between the U.S. and China develop, more and more Americans will have a need to travel to China. However, Chi points out, “Business travelers bring in the money, and I do not believe we are getting their fair share of the business traffic. This will definitely be an area where we want to see improvement. In the past year, we have seen an increase in non-ethnic Chinese traffic on our flights.”
General Manager Chi has spearheaded a campaign to aggressively expand its presence and gain awareness and exposure in the Los Angeles area. The first foreign citizen that any Chinese carrier has hired as an executive, Zhihang spent his formative years in China and immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1980s to continue his graduate studies. He holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Zhihang previously worked for Northwest Airlines in St. Paul, Minnesota, for eight and a half years and was the highest-ranking mainland Chinese immigrant in the entire North America airline industry.
Claiming that Air China’s hub city Beijing, is the best situated hub in China for connection, Chi added that global connections are often personal: “The Sino-U.S. relationship is vital to both countries and world peace. We strongly believe that even in these days of highly sophisticated communication technology, nothing can replace face-to-face meetings.”
Air China, as the official airline partner for the Olympic Games, wants to be the forerunner riding the rising status of China and the momentum created by the games.
“In our desire to upgrade our product,” Chi said, “the three carriers we look upon with great admiration are United for its reach scope, efficiency and power, Singapore a paragon of service, and Cathay for being such a wonderfully successful niche player.
Chi says, “We want to learn from them and create an identity of our own. We realize that we can improve our bottom line by focusing our efforts on sales, but in the long term, we have to build a name for ourselves in order to be financially successful in this market on a sustainable basis. We want to be the preferred carrier for travelers when it comes to flying into China.”