it may seem imo. I may get lucky but I always seem to sit by pretty cool people on planes and have never seen a crazy incident like the ones in the news the past few years.

Most people (94-96%+?) just do what they have to, keep to themselves, maybe put their head phones on, and try to get where they're going without incident. Most people in the country are sufficiently humble for air travel it seems.

Every generation seems to think that the generations before them were better people than them. The little bit of history I've studied seems to me to indicate the opposite is true in many areas of comparison.

I would imagine people from way back when would actually have a harder time than we do getting along in circumstances like our day, being in a much more populated, complex and pluralistic society as ours. Just like we wouldn't fair as well in their world/time. I think we do well all things considered.