I've only been to the US once, and I really wasn't sure how I would find the 'service industries' (waiting, bar staff, shop staff) always asking if I 'had a nice day' etc. I thought I would find it cloying and draining.
In reality I generally felt VERY well taken care of by everyone I met in retail or service industries - EXCEPT for the airlines.
We flew BA, London to LAX, and as ever BA were fine. We then flew Delta to Hawaii, and I couldn't believe how rude, unhelpful and almost angry these people were. I mean coach drivers in the UK are grumpy but these were something else. When my partner requested the gluten free meal she had confirmed with the check-in staff, she was told they didn't have anything and was given a bread roll (!!!) and an apple as a replacement.
Returning we flew United Airlines, and again they were curt, unhelpful, and generally annoyed that we were there on their plane.
I couldn't believe that these airlines could be operating in a country that prides itself so highly on service.
As the parent says, these are companies that need to be built up again from the ground up - subsidizing them is not helping them.
In reality I generally felt VERY well taken care of by everyone I met in retail or service industries - EXCEPT for the airlines.
One problem might be the scale of the company.
Your examples of service industries are restaurants, bars, shops. Owned by franchises or small business owners. The boss is frequently behind the counter, filling in. Bad apples are noticed. And easily replaced.
Delta / United / American are huge businesses. You just don't see a small airline with one or two airplanes, with the CEO loading baggage and flying the plane. Bad apples get lost in the noise.
If my theory is correct, simply replacing Delta with another company is not going to fix the problem for long.
FWIW the last time I flew Southwest Airlines the staff was courteous, had a sense of humor, efficient. I will choose SWA over the competition when I have the chance.
The unions are the big problem along with a lack if accountability. They can break baggage laws, for example, with impunity leaving the passenger little recourse except to attempt to sue in federal court.
That's not the union, that's the business. I guarantee that they would have no trouble getting rid of anyone, even a union employee, for stealing baggage: simply calling the police and charging them would take care of the problem. It's just that in the absence of government regulation[1] or a market with more competition, it's cheaper to pretend bag theft doesn't happen and let passengers pay for private insurance.
At this point, our best chance is probably convincing people that the bag theft rings are ripe for terrorist exploitation and we need point-to-point video tracking to prevent mass mayhem.
1. e.g. banning the “we reimburse everything at $2/pound & $0 for anything which uses electricity" clauses in every airline's ToS
In reality I generally felt VERY well taken care of by everyone I met in retail or service industries - EXCEPT for the airlines.
We flew BA, London to LAX, and as ever BA were fine. We then flew Delta to Hawaii, and I couldn't believe how rude, unhelpful and almost angry these people were. I mean coach drivers in the UK are grumpy but these were something else. When my partner requested the gluten free meal she had confirmed with the check-in staff, she was told they didn't have anything and was given a bread roll (!!!) and an apple as a replacement.
Returning we flew United Airlines, and again they were curt, unhelpful, and generally annoyed that we were there on their plane.
I couldn't believe that these airlines could be operating in a country that prides itself so highly on service.
As the parent says, these are companies that need to be built up again from the ground up - subsidizing them is not helping them.