I don't really understand this thread.
The reason air travel is so crap for the man in the street is that they are paying a pittance for it. The article fails to make the connection between this and "the airline industry is in deep crisis."
You pays yer money and takes your choice.
Once in your seat, a bevy of attendants would cater for your every whim. They provided you with socks, eye-masks, blankets, pillows, earphones; you could have spent a weekend camping with all the equipment they laid on.
If your seat belt wasn't tight enough, they'd see to it. If you wanted a drink, they'd bring one. You could have what you pleased, and it came with a bag of roasted peanuts. The cheery cabin crew produced nattily packed meals as often as you could consume them. They were at your service at the click of a button, and their wares came free of charge.
OK, legroom was often a problem, even in the good old days, and the air con has always dried out your skin. But you were comfortable enough, and on balance the experience was a treat. Your holiday began at check-in.
Remember, paying £400 to cross the Atlantic 20 years ago was a hell of a lot more expensive than paying £300 to cross it today.
The price of air travel has fallen dramatically but so has the quality (it's debatable whether it was as good as people remember it anyway, but that's another thread).
Personally, I find spending a little bit more money in order to gain status (frequent flier) on an airline is worth it. For example, on BA, if you get a Silver card you can
- allocate a seat before everyone else - I always manage to get the first row of Economy if travelling in that
- use Fast Track security - bit of a lottery at T5 sometimes, but most of the time it's a great benefit
- use the lounges at T5, free food, drink, free wi-fi.
- Board the aircraft early (again variable at T5).
I suppose if you want to go back to late 1980s, early 1990s standards of service, you'll have to start paying (inflation adjusted) fares from the same time.