I suppose that most airports are just glorified shopping centres/malls these days and apparently derive most of their profits from the activities in the terminals. I'm one of those passengers who DETESTS having to go through those 'yellow brick roads' offering duty-free before getting to the departure gates area. Yes I might want a coffee, or a newspaper or whatever, but all I really want is to get through check-in/security and to my gate with as little friction as possible. There are others of a similar mind, but it would appear that most travellers seem to love the whole airport experience and are somehow prepared to accept the circumstances up to a point (that point having been reached in the last months).
Putting aside the shutdowns between 2020-22 and the need to claw back revenues lost in this period, the shutdown(s) had been a chance for airport owners together with planners to re-shape the whole kerb to gate experience, to bring down 'through times' to a decent minimum, thus making the comings and goings more efficient. Ingrained culture and vested interests won. I appreciate that the govt was making forward planning challenging for airports regarding staff, but it would seem that many really didn't keep their ear to the ground and have been left woefully understaffed as things ramped up, pun intended ;-)
As to the LCC's, probably 20% or less are passengers who shouldn't be flying anywhere due to their behaviour, but the other 80% are of varying demographics who appreciate the routes and pricing and are willing to accept the downsides of which there are many, if things go wrong as they sometimes do. As we hear all the time, if you can abide by their rules and be good with it, it works.