Originally Posted by
moondog
I don't do (or advise) same day connections, period, because I dislike having to pad schedules, but 4 hours seems a bit excessive as long as you pick flights that have decent on time stats, and there aren't other extenuating factors.
If you are flying in the summer I'd advise 6-8 hour cushions and even then it might be pushing it. An example: Harbin to London with a connection in Beijing on a flight that leaves Beijing at night, I would advise taking the earliest flight from Harbin and having a 12 hour layover in Beijing. Subsequent flights will likely be delayed and a 4-5 hour delay is definitely not unheard of, especially in the Summer.
Booking any connections in China is asking for trouble. It's better to book from the main airport (CAN, PEK or PVG) and figure out a way to get there that doesn't involve flying (i.e. same day high speed train).
The 4 hour rule is also too short for people connecting thru HKG from the mainland in the Summer. In the last 2 months I've been delayed more than 6 hours twice on PVG-HKG flights.
To answer the OP's question. Yes, there are many airlines worse than Air China, it's not their fault that China ATC is still treating airspace like we're in the 1970's.