It is absolutely the opposite. Southwest offer an honest product.. you know exactly what you will get and they make no pretence otherwise. Their fare structure is transparent and they have a corporate culture which is customer oriented, within the scope of what they offer.
The legacies, of which I find Delta the worst, have developed a culture which is dishonest and hostile to the customer. Their attitude towards customers is apparent simply from reading the Delta threads on here, my3cents and flyertalk. There are significantly more complaints about the legacies than Southwest. Their pricing is not transparent and seeks to exploit customers and their fortress hub monopoly power.
You appear to be blaming Southwest for undermining the legacies. If the legacies would address the problem of their disaffected staff and their attitudes, they may have a chance get better. This is as much about attitude as it is about service. This example, on AA, illustrates perfectly what the attitude problem in the legacies is:
http://consumerist.com/2009/12/askin...deral-law.html