Why are US airlines so bad?
In general, US carriers seem much more cheap and stingy than their European and Asian counterparts with little difference in fares. First of all, complentary food is nonexistent in coach in the US (not even on 6 hour cross country flights) while it's commonplace in other countries (example: China). Second, US carriers' planes are always in terrible shape. The plastic panels are yellowed, and badly scratched and scuffed up, seats are heavily worn and battered, and all the furnishings very dated and look like they havn't been updated in 20 years. International cabins are OK but flying domestic on, say, United, is like flying a budget carrier overseas but without the lower fare.