I think you have the visual just about right!
You know, to some degree the same is true of flying now a days. I’m glad it’s much cheaper than it was before dergulation, but the nature of flyers (and service) has changed.
Yes, I’m just old enough to remember the days before deregulation. There were not as many security risks. I also worked for a company that use to put me into business class. Flying was very enjoyable. Most of the time my company was paying for it. There were few hassles with security and the flight attendants and staff were very friendly. I can even remember playing cards with some believe it or not. There were almost no passengers on that flight. Flying was fun and now it’s real misery. Those were the days.