Times have changed and air travel is far more mundane. The holiday doesn't begin when you board the plane any more than it begins when you get on the bus to get to the station to get on the train to get to the airport. In fact air travel is like a bus: just another form of public transport; sad but true. We have come to expect the traditional service even when it is superfluous (why do we need a meal service on a 2 hour, mid afternoon European shorthaul flight). The locos recognised this, made the extras optional and reduced the base price. The public embraced this.
On many routes flying is more mundane partly because the airport experience isn't as great as it once was and secondly because we all generally fly more.
I have to say though that for many the holiday very much still starts at the airport and onboard the aircraft. Some of the holiday destinations are where the crew certainly earn their commission. SSH for example is a long day but it's extremely lucrative for crew in terms of flight pay and commission. Generally people buy more because they're on holiday. Although i'm sure many crew will acknowlege that this is a very Northern/Scottish thing. In essence, you can still have everything you had onboard before you just pick and choose what you want and pay accordingly.
Most of the complaints come from those who pay the loco ticket price but still expect the legacy service. The full service option is still there if you wish to pay for it so I don't have a great deal of sympathy for these sorts of complaints. If you get on a loco flight with the same attitude as when you get on a bus or a train you'll have few problems.
Absolutely. The problem is that the average Joe would be very disappointed on a BA flight to ALC etc these days because they get very little onboard service. Of course, LCC isn't just related to onboard service but your average pax thinks it does. Ironically the LCC's probably have better cabin service/selection/choice than BA economy on many of the short sectors. Again you just have to pick and choose accordingly.
I may work for a well known budget airline but I am certainly no company spokesman and I see many negatives in the overall business model
I don't see many negatives in the business model per se. I do however see negatives in the way some LCC's do things........including the one I work for.