Ancient Observer, you didn't state in your original post that "safety is a number one priority", so I thought you were saying that customer service comes above all else. I think I took objection to your use of the word "obsessed". It is absolutely not the job of the pilots to be "obsessed" with customer service: any professional will back me up on that one. However, I apologise if that was not what you meant. (Of course, safety isn't actually the number 1 priority for a profit-making airline. The real priority is...making a profit, but we won't go down that one...)
The reference to the other thread is to highlight how "being obsessed" with customer service / pressure from managers about on-time departures may lead to trouble (if that was indeed the reason).
For the record: I do believe that passengers should be kept informed, but in my experience they invariably are!