Spurred on by ABC's Pan Am, Glen Whitman explains why female flight attendants have gotten less attractive over the years:
When deregulation came along … it became apparent that as much as male customers might have enjoyed the eye candy, they weren’t willing to pay for it. Higher quality might seem like a good thing, but it’s really only good if the benefits exceeds the cost. More attractive staff can command higher wages. The airlines could have continued to pay them, if the higher quality had attracted more customers. But as it turns out, most people just wanted to get where they were going, fast and cheap.
The Dish 