The problem for the legacy airlines is that they started in the pre-deregulation era with excellent pay and benefits for their employees. Deregulation eliminate

The problem for the legacy airlines is that they started in the pre-deregulation era with excellent pay and benefits for their employees. Deregulation eliminated the financial basis for those salaries, and as a result the legacies have been engaged in a decades-long war with their employees to lower costs. It shouldn't be surprising that customer service is poor when people work in such a hostile environment. There's always a huge difference in morale between growing and shrinking companies. The post-deregulation entrants dont even have to pay more than the legacies; the fact that they're not constantly attacking their own employees is an enormous advantage.