Some of my local (Chinese) friends have told me they fly CX because of who's up front. They told me they want to be flown by westerners. Small sample of the population, I know. In general the majority will follow the cheapest ticket, but if CX where smart they would chase the premium market with a premium product. In normal times there are plenty of pax to be had, but our mis-managers chose to cut costs and safety in a race to the bottom. CX managers are after numbers not margins.