16000+ hours and I canīt say I have ever noticed nor been informed of any creaking during climb such as you describe.
Then again I tend to stay away from any large moving object that is owned, operated, or maintained by fatalists.
Btw, the reputation an airline has among its customers is almost exclusively based on inflight service levels. The reputation the same airline has among owners, operators or technicians is based on entirely different factors and is not infrequently diametrically opposed to that of the passengers.