In your own words you have no problem at all in flying a VOR/DME approach and hats off to you. Most pilots don't.
There is plenty of evidence out there that some pilots/airlines do.
One recently to the Melbourne VOR 34 and a few stories regarding the CG Vor of late.
The numbers are in, there is no doubt ILS vs VOR, ILS wins hands down on the safety case(no surprises there). If the traffic/conditions warrants it then common sense dictates.....and that is where the argument is lost when airline bean counters are put in the mix. Thank you to Mr Mach for explaining the process.
If we can't convince the public/bean counters that an extra dollar on your ticket is worth it for a safer day then well no wonder the smart people in aviation put their money in the airport car parks and not the airlines.