Good luck. I flew out of PVG last month on that PVG-LAX flight. The desks were manned by contracted staff only. I think they showed up and opened somewhere between 3-4 hours before the scheduled departure. The young man that checked me in said that they rotated to different airlines as a group during their shift. He did speak English very well. The GA's did not appear to be AA employees either.

If I needed ticketing/upgrade assistance, I would definitely call the EXP desk and seek assistance/advice.

Other than showing up waaaaay too early for my flight and having to wait a couple of hours before the staff showed up, I had no difficulty at all at PVG. Everyone was pleasant. There were ample places outside of security to dine while I waited for the desks to open.

FWIW... taking the MagLev to PVG was a total blast. Short... but a blast nonetheless.