I suspect the conflict is either between:
- new hires who want to do the minimum vs. those FAs who've been around 25-30-ish years, remember what service standards used to be like, and still care about providing good service; or
- new hires who are eager to work vs. those senior FAs who want to do the minimum
The article linked by OP already explains exactly what the conflict is:
And because it’s relatively rare for younger crew members to be assigned these kinds of favored European trips, a common question asked by senior crew members is: “How did you even get this trip?”
It might seem like a relatively simple question, but it can sometimes be loaded with undertones that result in tension and animosity.
That tension has become so apparent, even to AA’s training teams, that they are now requiring crew members to complete an online training module to try to address this type of questioning.