Well i'll reply,
I think the airline's themselves have to shoulder some of the responsibility. For years they have been talking about the glamour of flying, the champagne on boarding, the 5 star meal cooked on board by your on private chef the chair turning into a bed, look at most of QF's ad's, almost exclusively they will show either J or F (assuming they show inside an aircraft, most of the time it's kids singing), ignoring the fact that most of their fleet doesn't even have F. Is it any wonder that when people board they are surprised that the reality does not live up to the hype, esp when they've booked into Y. I suppose a bright thing is at least we're closer to the hype here than they are in the states, I've seen public buses with more class than some of the flights I've had over there.
So yes, people have been asking for champagne service on a beer budget, but if you look at almost any airline ad, that's pretty much what they are promising with a little asterisk next to the photo stating "not available in all classes". So in a very big way, the airlines have brought this onto themselves.