Churchinow perhaps I can pass on a little anecdote and see if that will alter your thought process..........
Over a 10 years period some time back my father averaged a flight as a passenger every 10 days. He flew a variety of airlines in UK, Europe, USA and Canada, and having had an interest in aviation all his life was probably more clued up about how things worked than most who fly.
When I started working for an airline in the mid 70's I quickly realised that he actually didn't know too much about the whys and wherefores of an airport operation. It caused quite a few interesting discussions between us at first. There are a multitude of difficulties placed in the way of the simple process of getting passenger checked in and to the boarding gate, and very few are there because of the airline(s)
As a passenger it isn't necessary for you to know everything about how it works, in the same way you don't have to know exactly how a power station is manned and managed in its operation. Obviously it is necessary to give you information re flight status in good time. 'Flight Boarding' or similar such as 'Gate Open' are generic terms used to put it in the passengers mind to get to the gate.
One of the most frustrating delays is 'late passengers to the boarding gate'. It is bad enough when it is only two or three, but if over 15 then it is a big problem. Unfortunately passengers have so many distractions on the way to a boarding gate (coffee shops, shops of all sorts etc) that it happens way to often.
Have you wondered why staff who arrive new to the company keen and eager to do well and good at interfacing with customers can fade into 'processors'? Alas a lot of the passengers who now fly are bored with the experience and maybe even dislike it. They just want to get the flight over with with as little interaction with others as possible. So after a few years the bright and cheery staff member learns to keep low key and minimalist in the way they deal with passengers. Sad but true. As with many areas in life, the ability to interact is removed by the need to be 'efficient and productive'.
I agree there are some bad staff in all companies, and there are some good staff having a bad day perhaps............... but whilst BA is not my airline of choice I do think you have gone over the top in yr criticism and the comment re paying their wages is a bit of a red herring as you only pay a small proportion and not everyone feels as you do.
I think I am right in saying that the year that BA won the 'Worlds Favourite Airline' award, they also finished top of the list for the least favourite! They just carried so many more passengers than most others.