Apologies if I am out of line here, but as a very frequent flyer I have to say that I am much more comfortable knowing that the person in charge of my safety is there on merit, not simply because they have been doing the #2 job for so many years.
There can't be many other businesses left where this "promotion/salary based on years of service" concept still holds - even the big Japanese companies are having to see that this is not a good way to get the most efficient use of the best people.
Having said that, I should say that I don't actually have any worries about the quality of the CX crew who seem to deserve their very high reputation.