To everyone pointlessly arguing about whether there are actual quality differences in the commodities that you are discussing - you're missing the point entirely. Forest and the trees and all that.

What matter is not that you win the argument. What matters is that different people perceive quality differences. Don't you all see that since you think there are differences, that's what matters?

As our fellow Flyertalker bernardd has pointed out repeatedly over the years, the failure of airline management is in convincing passengers that there are differences in the products. The differences don't have to be dramatic or profound; perhaps some subtle differences are all they need.