Jeff, that's a very apt and valuable distinction. I agree that poor customer service personnel issuing disinformation or ad hominem attacks on customers are at the root cause of more "AIRLINE" rage than the carriers' employee unions might care to admit.

As for booze-related "AIR" rage: this is only from anecdotal observation, but I think inexperienced or unattentive air crews overserve passengers more often than THEY would care to admit. On a CO transcon last year I listened with growing alarm as a young, flirty FA kept the double vodkas coming to a trio of noisy, profane, aggressive young men in the row behind me. Finally, after the sixth or seventh round, I followed her back to the galley and told her quietly the three guys were swearing loudly and making the trip miserable for their seatmates, and her regular doses of vodka were only making things worse. Well, surprise: the FA thought the three Italian Stallions were cuter than me, got the guys another round, and TOLD THEM I HAD COMPLAINED ABOUT THEM. I spent the last hour of the flight listening to them threaten to beat me up.

(I did write to CO Customer Care with full details and got back some upgrade coupons and assurance that while union rules prevented revealing just what had been done, action had been taken.)

That flight attendant was an idiot whose refusal to do her job could've led to an inflight fistfight. I don't think she was terribly unusual, either. It's interesting to note that the latest air rage case was aboard another Continental flight, ANC-SEA, and the perpetrator was boarded even though fellow passengers testified she "reeked" of alcohol from the get-go.