The thing that is incredibly aggravating for the flyer is the vast majority of FA's are good. However they also cover for the driftwood and deadbeat FA who is rude and uninterested.
This primarily happens in an 'us-or-them' employer/employee relationship that is strained.
AA does need to jettison some of these customer service vacuums though. Maybe set up a dedicated survey system of 'how was your flight', and match it to the employees. While anyone can have a bad day, overall the results will show who the people are that need to be shown the door.