Hah. It's a cultural facade. The response about service industry is spot-on. Same happens in US public education now. Don't want to hurt anybody's feelings with a failing grade, so... Another example is medical practice in some countries [shall not be named/shamed here] where there's no enforcement on reporting medical errors, hence it's "error-free" with no real reason for quality.

I noticed the actual seat hardware for AC has gone down hill in the last few years--who put the IFE controls in the arm rest where your elbow keeps landing on them? Like UA, AA, LH, SQ, and almost everybody else, the rest is the same--you can get more cattle-like treatment. UA, AA and other domestic airlines are in such a hurry to turn their planes around, they don't get cleaned as nicely as before. Then there's HU. HU's interiors were all fine when they were new. If they bothered to maintain anything ever is a different story.

Soft product is another story. SQ and AA customer service always "seems" happier than UA. 1st prize in my experience has been QX (not AS) and HA. WN used to be borderline goofy but seems to be getting more sober.

I agree with others that in accordance with your customer tier, when push comes to shove, customer service all seems about the same. Situation seems to keep changing from year to year. Just waited 2-3 hours for AA phone rep the other day. Three times. It was immediate 20 years ago. The days of DL call-center in India are long gone. For normal people, QX and HA still seem the best.