I have to agree it is the airport experience which is the worst part of it all. Back in 1978 when I flew on a 747 for the first time it only took 1 hour from getting in the queue to check in to push back. Now one spends forever at everything. In addition to all the airport hassles we know about I find there are too many shops around. I prefer somewhere quiet, just a place to get a cup of coffee and then a seat to look out of a window. Shopping is not what I want. If I can I try to fly from small airports but of course that is often not possible. Where possible now I take to crossing the pond by ship and have virtually given up on flying to Europe, trains and cars are much better. I reserve flying to a necessity eg London to Oz.
Flying itself is still generally speaking a reasonable experience, even in economy. However the advent of touch screens has been a serious down grade in my view. In fact entertainment systems generally I would rather do without and have the underseat leg room back by getting rid of those boxes.
Unfortunately some carriers have also down graded the seat pitch to such an extent I won't use them any more, BA being a very unfortunate example since their service levels are good.
And as for the "old" days, well I bounced all the way from London to Singapore and back in a Bristol Britannia in the early 1960's. I prefer flying today it is fair to say.