Everyone's right, but what is the solution?
This is an unfortunate thread, because nearly all of the participants are correct (and very articulate). Heykiddo has accurately adduced the real culprit -- intensifying competition due to a drop in entry barriers into the airline business (but with one minor correction, the disbanding of the CAB and deregulation of the US airline business began in 1978 under Carter, not Reagan). Yaletown has correctly identified that this Aer Lingus/UAL venture will further pressure FA wages. And apaddyinuk is likely right that Aer Lingus may quickly bail out of this venture and seek even more discounted staffing costs.
The key answer that is not provided is whether there is something that can to done to stop this downward spiral of wages and working conditions. Simply boycotting the EI/UA venture is unlikely to have much of an effect. Rather, from the point-of-view of this SLF (who happens to be an economist), the key thing that needs to be done to improve FA conditions is for the industry (and FAs) to demonstrate that better FA wages will provide SLF with service that SLF are willing to pay extra for. I, for one, am willing to pay a premium if I can expect to get a better grade of service from flight or cabin crew. But people in the airline industry need to put their heads together to figure out how this might be done. Of course it is also possible that I am in the minority, and the nearly all SLF just want the absolute cheapest ticket with no regard to the quality of service. If this is the case, there may be no hope. But I hope not.
Before I am flamed, let me conclude this post by again observing that the main contributors have been incredibly articulate in presenting the issues -- and I have little doubt that they will be successful in any venture they pursue.