Liu, 48, joined the airline industry in 1978. Graduating from the Aviation Flight University of China, he started by flying crop dusters. In the 1990s, he moved up the corporate ladder inside China General Airlines and the Shanxi branch of the CAAC and then China Eastern. Today he is both general manager and chairman of the holding company.

As early as 1996, Liu put forward the notion of "people first," which sounded out of place at a time when the speed of growth was paramount.

China Southern has been through some tough times. In the fiscal 2005, the company, listed in Hong Kong, New York and Shanghai, suffered 1.8 billion yuan (US$230 million) in losses.

And for the first half of this year, it was again in the red to the tune of 835 million yuan (US$107 million). Analysts attribute the financial performance to escalating fuel costs and a scandal involving 4.3 billion yuan (US$551 million).

But the drop in fuel prices and improved management have combined to turn around this behemoth of 55,000 employees. In the third quarter of this year, it showed a huge profit, said Li Lei, a securities analyst, and for the whole year it will "aggregate a slim profit. The prospect for 2007 is even better."

The company says that's the result of Liu's steadfast efforts in cost reduction and service improvement. "We have shifted from making it big to making it better," he said.

One of his catch phrases is "Build fewer buildings and build more (information) systems." Unlike some companies whose parent firms like to live large, China Southern puts its group headquarters and the holding company into one building. It will soon move them into two renovated buildings that were once used for storage.

1

2

3

4

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)