This should not be that surprising.
The average decision maker at the airline does not experience the airline product the way that a FF does. The vast majority of airline employees have NEVER bought a ticket. They know nothing of fares and fare rules because the rules they have to go by are completely different and seperate. They seldom get to sit in the first rows of an A320 because they do not get advance seat selection. They do not know too much about MLL's because they rarely see the inside of one. Getting sameday standby is a non issue since they are always on stand-by, even if they have a Positive space booking for business travel that just means they are at the head of the standby list.
I am aware of all of this now that I have left the airline and buy tickets like everyone else and I have exposure to Flyer-Talk.