The minimum number of FAs on a flight is mandated by the FAA, based on the number that are reasonably needed to manage the number of pax on the plane during an emergency. Emergencies come up all the time, the unexpected mid-air total explosion that you talk about is probably the least common emergency; certainly after other problems such as difficult pax, sick pax and dangerous landings.

Second, FAs make almost as little as waitresses, except that they don't get tips. If each pax started tipping them $3-5 like we do at Denny's, most FAs would make a lot more money than they do now.

Third, I'm not sure what airlines you're flying, but the one I do don't exactly have a surplus of FAs. On a narrowbody, three FAs (on for first class and two for about 100 coach pax) seems like the minimum that could reasonably do a beverage service. As you stated, you want good service in first, so in this case we could only reduce the number of FAs down to two - one for first and one to handle 100 coach pax. I have a hard time believing that having one person manage 100 pax is a good idea.

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