It happened one day earlier this month at Pudong International Airport that a woman surnamed Qin, who had checked in at the counter of China Eastern Airlines just five minutes before for a flight bound for Madrid, suddenly found, to her great alarm, that her wallet containing her passport and residence permit was missing.

Burning with anxiety, she hurried to the window where she had gone through the flight formalities to make inquiries about the wallet in the hope of finding it there. But alas, it was nowhere to be found. Nor could the employees on duty provide any clues. In desperation, Qin offered a 10,000-yuan reward in a last-ditch effort to retrieve her all-important wallet.

Things took a dramatic turn an hour after the reward was announced at the airport. Qin's brother who was with her received a mysterious call, asking him to come to collect the personal documents. Doing as he was bid, the brother met with an airline employee at the designated rendezvous where they sealed the cash-for-wallet deal.

There was however one small but important detail that did not escape the brother's notice: the identity badge of the fellow was hidden inside his pocket.

As an airline worker was involved in the lost-and-found wallet affair, the brother and sister called in the airport police to straighten out the matter. Through the mediation of the police and co-workers of the airline company, the huge "ransom" was eventually returned to the Qins. When, at long last, the lady was able to take another flight to resume her trip, she was 11 hours behind schedule. This was all told in a feature story broadcast by Radio Shanghai on July 2.

Now we have two points that must be cleared up. First, if it had not been the airways worker but someone else who had accepted the money in return for finding the wallet, that would have been a moral issue between the wallet owner and the finder. It would not be a matter of right and wrong.

But in this case it was a uniformed employee on duty who had the wallet, but who, instead of giving it back to its owner or passing it on to higher authorities, went out of his way to try to collect the reward. Or, worse still, is it likely that the employee withheld the wallet on purpose from the very beginning in order to try to extort money later?

Either way, this was a straightforward case of an airline staff member seeking personal gain by abusing what should have been his duty. It was a manifestation of moral decay as well as a direct challenge to accepted professional ethics.

Second, Pudong International Airport, as a major window into Shanghai, is part of the city's image and the vigorous go-ahead spirit of its people. And indeed, everyone working at the airport should be making sure the window is clean and wide open to welcome all those from far and near who come and go through it, leaving a drop of warm sunlight in their hearts.

In this context, not only does the misconduct of the airline worker leave him shorn of his integrity but it also casts a shadow over the reputation of the city and upsets the general public who are learning to "Be a lovely Shanghainese", as advocated by the city authorities.

Such an act on the part of the airline employee, therefore, cannot be tolerated. Furthermore, what if the lady makes a fuss about the episode abroad? I hope not.

To build up a well-disciplined and dedicated staff often requires more effort than just the creation of a business or an organization. And it is not at all surprising that there are always black sheep around. China Eastern, as a fully-fledged airline giant, is indeed to be commended for the courage and breadth of vision to right the wrong then and there, and then to move on.

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