A significant problem with US carriers is that management has, for the most part, totally alienated the employees with compensation cuts while management takes gigantic bonuses. Combine this with a failed government and failing economy and you have a situation where the entire industry is going down the tubes. The airline workers have now taken on management's attitude of just hanging-on and milking it as much as possible till the system entirely fails (next winter by my estimate), then jump ship. Airline workers are treated like day-labor now and it's no surprise that they have the same attitude towards customer service that management does.