Groundhand
Groundhand,
Accept your point regarding the SLA defining the standards of service. Was a long post so I wanted to keep it simple.
Many airlines will issue an RFP defining the standards/timings they require so in the end it does just become just a numbers game which is unfortunate.
People do make a difference to service delivery but this is not always seen by airline procurement departments, as many of those people haven't worked at the sharp end. It still remains a case of A cheaper than B in most cases.
It will change in time as the current situation is not sustainable. Is just not nice to see the different handling uniforms falling out in the meantime.