The customer is king, and now Chinese businesses are starting to take that adage quite literally. Airlines in China are at the cutting edge of the hottest trend in customer service in China: kneeling.

Based on initial feedback, male customers love it. To best serve passengers, flight attendants adopt a uniform kneeling stance: both feet on the ground, one knee up with the other down, back straight, and both hands in the lap, just like so:

Flight attendants are taught the stance in large classes, where they receive instruction as they practice together in a line:

The public can’t seem to get enough of it. To meet demand, pictorials shown on Caijing show flight attendants in the position.

Or stretching:

Or in this context, which just might be the beginning of a music video of a teen idol group, as directed by the late Stanley Kubrick:

“Kneeling service” has been noticed by many netizens, who have sounded off on the topic on Wiebo:

江南丑：
Upon seeing this, I have to cover my crotch.

山地情怀竹青：
Isn’t this to try to get them to show off their underwear? What’s good about this? Is this some kind of set deal you get at the airport with a bowl of beef noodles and a rice box? Take after the economical airlines (that offer competitive prices) and you will be king of the world…

南言-沚隐：
My gosh, these photographs are enticing. If only their blouses were opened just one button more, then that would be perfect…

囚笼里的小狼：
This is too artificial; bending at the waist should be enough. Are service personnel people as well? Don’t they need to be respected too?

咸鱼二两：
I’m not able to hold back upon seeing these photos. If they were to kneel for me right now, I’d…

非冰：
Are you sure these short skirts aren’t from a porn video?

TTC1994:
Long, white legs [lovestruck.emo]

做个僵尸好难：
Take a look at the fatties and matrons stewardesses of US airlines. Now, take a look again at our own airlines and the torture we put these young women through

路一直都在best：
I’ve taken the airlines over dozens of times, and have only encountered two pretty girls. [crytears.emo]

小妖妈妈咪呀：
Stewardesses work really hard; must they also must be tormented in this way as well?

We’ve heard from the male customers; but, we wonder what female customers think of “kneeling service”. Or, for that matter, what the flight attendants think.

Photos: Yang-Tse Evening Report, Caijing