Airlines are more often the target of criticism than praise these days, but I want to put my two cents worth of appreciation for the recent service I received from China Southern.

All airline travel is associated with a certain mild accompaniment of tension (Will we make it on time?; Why is there a traffic jam now!; Did I lock the cat in the bedroom?; Where's my passport?; Did I pack the documents for Gillian?) You know the drill. Well my recent flight from Chengdu to Guangzhou to Dubai to Nairobi was no exception. Especially when I noticed a 2 hour connection in Guangzhou - 2 hours in which to collect my checked bag, check in for the next flight (Dubai), go through all the immigration exit procedures, navigate in Mandarin, etc. etc. "Mild tension" is putting it mildly.

Well my mild tension was not helped when 10 minutes before departure, there was no sign of an aircraft at the gate. When we finally did board 15 minutes late, mild tension was as mild as a mild curry in Madras. We sat on the plane waiting for some indication of an imminent departure - nothing. One hour late, and we finally push back and trundle off to the runway. This would now give me only one hour to do all of the above. No way! - so my mind was busy computing how to find a hotel in Guangzhou, how to rebook flights on a Sunday, how to apologize to Tom and Stella in Nairobi, why I didn't study Mandarin, why I am doing this in the first place and what a great job a greeter at Wal-Mart would be.

With exactly one hour to next flight, we dock at the gate at Guangzhou. I elbow my way past pregnant women, old men and young children to be first out. And lo and behold, there stands a uniformed airline representative holding a tablet as important as the ten commandments with two words on it "Grant Thomas". "Yes, that's me". We scurry down a secret passage from the gangway to the tarmac beside the plane; we run around to the belly of the aircraft which is just opening to unload the baggage; he scrambles up and roots around the baggage hold to find my bag; and we race away in a van with the flashing orange lights that usually spell trouble. A crazy ride dodging airplanes, fuel trucks and baggage carts takes us to another secret staircase in the bowels of aviation logistics. Up the stairs and there we are at the check-in counter, like an oasis in a desert. They check me in, put my bag on an express conveyor belt, accompany me through immigration and walk me to the gate -- with 20 minutes to spare. As only regular Air Canada customers can appreciate, my jaw was on the ground, my only emotion was awestruck.

Hats off to the wonderful efficiencies of China and kudos to China Southern Airlines - they have a loyal convert.