You didn't hurt anybody's feelings. However, the employees are stung because their 50% paycuts, loss of pensions, etc., were done so that passengers could continue to fly at low fares. Would you be happy knowing that your company gave 50% sale prices to their customers than took it out of your paycheck, retirement, etc.? I do provide great customer service when I fly. There are many people who you can't please. I have seen unbelievable rudeness shown to CSAs, FA's, etc., when events beyond their control negatively impact passengers. I have seen passengers who were bumped by other airlines, issued a travel voucher on Delta, become irate because Delta couldn't accomodate them. "I will never fly on your horrible airline again!" "I will tell all my friends!". News-flash, they were not even Delta passengers to begin with yet they are ticked at us because their original airline inconvenienced them.

The point is, cheap fares have caused people that would never have flown, have no social skills, etc., to take to the skies "with rights". Free upgrades done to reward loyalty have now turned into rights among passengers. I had a passenger tell me the other day how mad he was that we wouldn't upgrade him because 1st class was full of revenue passengers.

Foreign carriers are often subsidized by the governments. Their citizens still place a premium on manners and customer service. The U.S. lost that a long time ago. An airplane can cost $200 million, a new terminal - several billion, a jetway - 1 million, tugs - $500k.......there is a tremendous cost of capital to run an airline. At some point, you must realize you need to pay the true cost of the product. Until then, you get what you wanted.