Originally Posted by eponymous_coward

Generally I don't have problems with any of the US domestic carriers.

I might be one of those "uncultivated" people though.



It's not particularly unusual for US/EU carriers to have pretty unspectacular business class/domestic F products on shorthaul, and yes, wages do factor into it (as well as LCC/ULCC pricing pressure in Y cabins, using RJs and so on).

I generally won't pay for shorthaul F without a very attractive price (somewhat rare but does happen) and don't even care much if I am upgraded or not into it (my decisions are usually pricing and timing based for that short a flight). But again this probably speaks to how "uncultivated" I am.