But that's the whole point, Christiaan...
A new LCC comes along with cheap overheads, new staff, new aircraft, a fresh look...and does well for a while...until the workforce starts to mature and realises 'this isn't a career position and I'm not making anything out of this'....
And then they go stale...you still pay your low fare, but you notice that the interior is starting to look shabby and the staff are starting to show strain...fast forward 30 years since de-regulation provided an entirely fresh start for the US airline industry, and, well, here we are times ten. The LCC's just have a shorter shelf life before they lose the plot. Just look at Jet Blue...
You'll notice in my post further up the page that, for the most part, I've tried to lay the blame firmly on the industry's internal affairs rather than the passengers, for the very reason you state in your European example above.