In asia, the competitive disadvantage for them, as with UA and CO, are their senior, mostly lazy, do-nothing flight attendants. Generally, inflight service is practically zero. Pax see those old, potato shaped grandmas serve the first meal, then disappear behind the curtain in the galley for the next 10 hours before coming alive again to serve the 2nd meal just prior to landing. Heaven forbid that you would ring the call button in the dead of night mid Pacific; a tired granny will come wobbling down the aisle and give you a dirty look. At asian carriers, cabin hosties are rare at age 30, completely gone at age 40.
I've been around for over 40 years, and I have to say that the worst old CC hags are with AA, DL, NW how the **** they keep their jobs (apart from shagging the local union rep) is beyond me. If our CC behaved with such distain and rudness, they'd not be working.
Absolutely true, I don't mind the FA's on Pac Rim routes being elderly but some of them have attitudes that are unbelievable. This stuff wouldn't last long at an Asian or Middle Eastern airline. No wonder SQ is booked months in advance on some routes.