Until my visit to China recently.
During my domestic travel within China, three things reminded me that customer service in the airline industry was still alive. At least, outside of the United States.
First, everybody was offered a free hot meal on any flight over 2 hours! I still remember the days when Continental would offer hot meals to everybody on domestic flights. Gone are those days in the US.
Second, personalized service for every passenger. On one leg, my neighbor was fast asleep during the entire flight. When the flight attendants came with food and drinks, they noticed he was asleep and left a note (see note on the right in the pic below) letting him know that they missed him. And, just before landing, they noticed that he was still asleep and came back with a second note (one on the left) providing information about the arrival city. They did this to every passenger who was fast asleep! Now, that is what I call good customer service.
Third, I noticed thoughtful service even at the airport. We are all used to the luggage carts lined up in their parking spot. In some airports, you have to pay to pull out a cart. In the Shanghai (Pudong) airport, I was surprised to see the luggage carts neatly lined up along the conveyor belt. Passengers would just come to the belt, grab their bags and load it onto one of the nearby carts and roll away!
Companies need to look for simple ideas like these to improve their customer service. Simple gestures like this is what makes up delightful customer service. You don't have to spend a lot of effort or resources to make your customers happy.