Ia Orana All...

Well, Air France check in in LAX is done by Delta next to China Southern and Air Jamaica. SkyTEAM Elite Plus customers are entitled to check in at First and Business Class counters worldwide regardless of their travelling class.

Now concerning customs on the CDG-LAX-PPT and return flight... All passengers transiting in LAX have to disembark and proceed to the transit lounge with all their cabin baggage, nothing and I mean NOTHING can be left on board, anything left onboard is considered lost as it is most likely that it will be off loaded and then distroyed for safety reasons...
All passengers wether flying on Air Tahiti Nui or Air France that are in transit will have to go through immigration before getting inside the transit lounge, no one will go through customs,no one will have to pick up backs unless they haven't been checked through to PPT or CDG which only happens to nonrevs...

All passengers in transit have to fill out the green form if they are travelling without visa or the white form if they have a visa. It is the only form they have to fill out, customs form is only for those terminating their trip in the USA...

I fly that route as a cabin attendant all the time so should you need any other information, please feel free to contact me