Unfair and ageist is what I would say
-I agree many USof A carriers FA s are shall we say very experienced but I have had some good trips and ,I admit ,some bad trips across the pond with them. One AA daytime from Kennedy to LHR was expecially good because of the two silver haired 'girls' who looked after J class with style and a smile.
I spent two years in SAS land and any woman under 30 and in uniform on an the assorted length MD80s/DC9s was most likely the FO. However I think they were consistently the best cabin crew I have come across being professional yet polite and friendly and often genuinely welcoming-. Very nice to get an understanding smile and a kind word when collapsing into your seat at the end of a day that started at 0615 and involved racing around some European capital to meetings then ended with a flight back to ARN arriving at 2300 or something.
BA are a mix of age and attitude with some great people in both categories and a good few just a bit too impressed with themselves. Sometimes you get both in one package-going to Singapore once the CSD walked like a catwalk model and spoke like the Queens voice coach. However she did have a friendly chat with many of the J class pax who are BAs bread and butter and was just as happy later on playing with some overly high spirited kids down the back
Qantas -which appears to have virtually all male crews on LH (and very competent they often are) seems to have the opposite proportion on domestic flights many of whom are 40+, friendly and funny as well as professional;-
en route Syd-Cairns
FA would you like a cup of tea
Me having just declined coffee-I am not that fond of tea for a brit.
FA G..arn have cup-its Ozzie Tea it'll be beaut
So please done write off/slag off the older lady FAs as a generality, lots of them are lovelym. They know how to make a decent Bloody Mary and inspire a lot more confidence about the serious side of Cabin Crew duties than some of their younger nominally prettier colleagues
PB