Though I agree with most everything said here, I also think it's fair to say that greed spilled over into the ranks of employees incl. pilots in the late 90's. I remember one pilot group after another threatening strike to obtain ever increasing pay deals, each one demanding to be "industry leading".
And then there was the supposed quote from the MEC at UAL (they had part ownership and a seat on the board, remember?), something about "we aren't going to kill the golden goose, just wring its neck untill every last egg..."