Thomas recently was picked as the first U.S. airline executive to serve as an instructor in international aviation marketing and management at the Civil Aviation Institute of China in Tianjin.

Honolulu executive Bert Thomas is the first U.S. instructor at a government training school for China's airline industry.

As the U.S. representative for the institute, Thomas also will be talking to U.S. airlines to get their support for the institute and the burgeoning Chinese airline industry, he said.

Thomas, 57, was the board chairman of the Hawaii Visitors Bureau (now known as the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau) in 1985-86. He has about 20 years experience in aviation, including representing Pan American World Airways and America West Airlines in Hawaii, Asia and the Pacific and serving as marketing vice president at Aloha Airlines for 15 years. Currently, Thomas is an independent business consultant based in Honolulu.

The Civil Aviation Institute was founded 40 years ago. Announcing the appointment of Thomas, the institute said it has some 1,000 faculty and staff members educating China's aviation industry, which is growing at a rate of 12 percent a year.

In an interview, Thomas said one effect of the rapid changes in China is that more Chinese airlines are looking to fly international routes. Some already do, but they are also looking closely at code-sharing and other operating agreements in which they would work with foreign airlines.

That in turn could lead to establishment of a much-needed direct route between Hong Kong and Hawaii, perhaps with Chinese airlines flying people into Hong Kong after China takes it over in July and a U.S. carrier bringing the passengers from Hong Kong to Hawaii and the mainland, Thomas said.

Meanwhile, his teaching job involves periodic trips to the institute to lecture in English with the help of a Chinese translator. In his first teaching trip in August, he was there 45 days and expects to go again early next year.

"There are some 40 people in a class, all managers, directors, planning people," who work in key positions with the airlines in China and with Chinese airports, he said.

There are 23 airlines in China, Thomas said, and for the last five or more years they've been encouraged to compete with each other to prepare for international competition.

"Three emerge as winners: Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines," Thomas said. Air China does most of the international service now, while China Southern is the biggest domestic carrier. They use modern equipment; China Southern's fleet, for example, includes three new Boeing 777s.

China Southern could wind up flying to Hawaii from Hong Kong, he said, in a code-sharing deal with a U.S. carrier.

"Joint ventures is a holy word," Thomas said, with the Chinese recognizing that code sharing is the best way for them to develop foreign business. (In code sharing, a flight might be ticketed as, for example, a China Southern flight all the way from China to Los Angeles, but somewhere along the way the passengers would be riding in a U.S. airline's jet.)

In his additional role of U.S. liaison for the institute, Thomas will seek financial and "in-kind" help, such as U.S. donations of money or on-the-job training.

Thomas has a personal China connection. His grandfather was born in Guang Dong Province.