[majormajor]

I'd argue that the airline industry was disrupted, in pretty much the classic "provide something that works OK for a lot of people at a cheaper price" sense. This is the result. The rise of budget carriers and people consistently choosing lowest price over everything else for flights led the legacy carriers to smash more and more seats into planes and remove all those little niceties that used to come as part of the experience: food, free checked bags, playing cards, whatever. Basically anything that doesn't actively bring in money or is at least free to re-use for the next flight.

EDIT: it makes sense, too. I can't blame people for that decision, I've made the same one. How many bucks is it really worth to be a bit less uncomfortable for 2 hours? 3 hours? Even 6 hours? Especially if I'm flying with a partner I'm sitting next to, which makes the leg-room/personal-space issue less annoying. And even when flying internationally, would I rather dedicate more money towards the flight itself, or to upgrading my accommodations for the time I'm spending overseas?