The following story is, at best, tangentially related to emotional support animals. When I was growing up, we were on vacation and visited this restaurant where there happened to be a man making balloon animals. I was a weird kid and so when he asked me what balloon animal I wanted, I told him I wanted him to make me a balloon hat. I think I said something along the lines of "can you please make me an abstract balloon hat? as large as possible?" It was an amazing hat. It was a tetrahedron at its core (the hat part) and had a bunch of corkscrews, flowers, you name it, stemming off of the hat base. I loved that balloon hat. But we flew to this vacation. In the airport while we were waiting for the plane, my parents set me up for the inevitable, where the flight attendant would tell me that I wouldn't be able to keep the hat. But as we boarded the plane, THEY FOUND A PLACE FOR IT! Some kind soul had an empty seat next to them and they agreed to watch my balloon hat for me. Mid-flight it probably scared the shit out of them once or twice as a couple of the balloons popped due to pressure changes. I kept that hat for months (kudos to the balloon man's knot skills) until all the balloons went flat. I wish I had a picture. I think kleinbl00's neighbor would've appreciated it.
there's less of a general increase/decrease in compassion and more a shift in what kind of loser you're allowed to be - more of a community mindset now that people understand how fucked they are the difference is nowadays you're allowed to be a deviant in public but you have to actually give a shit about the people around you - people who block aisles at the grocery store have replaced queers as the devil in the minds of zoomers - the issue now like always is where the two spheres collide: leashing your gimp on the subway? fursuits at school? support owl in economy class? i think "nerd culture" is a really good example of the attitude difference between millennials and zoomers - millennials think the childishness and naive-ness of it is freeing, zoomers see it as condescending / consumerist the kids are alright but the manchildren are not
I know you're not allowed to question anyone else's internal feelings these days, but the only people I know who have emotional support creatures (one person with a dog and one with 2 cats) are both (a) people who have suffered trauma, and (b) completely full of shit. The two aren't mutually exclusive. That said, as much as I've flown in my life, I've never been bothered by an animal on a plane. I'm sure, however, it only takes one time to get a really low opinion of the experience.
I have never encountered any difficulties with service animals. However, the Paris Hilton-inspired Emotional Support Chihuahua and Emotional Support Pomeranian is always a thing that barks at small children, gives the owner an excuse to cut in front of you and demand boons from the flight crew, and is "taken for a walk" up and down the aisle where it rummages in your bag. Every time. Without fail. My experience has been that emotional support animals, in regards to aviation, are universally badges to justify attempts to garner preferential treatment. Considering we're all trying to get along in a crowded elevator for hours-to-days, your inability to manage your emotions without an animal in your arms belies your ability to manage the animal in your arms. I understand that their lives didn't turn out the way they wanted them to so now their furbabies get them through their day. But we all make sacrifices of comfort and identity in order to cohabitate a too-small too-uncomfortable environment and emotional support animals are a highly consumptive annoyance that mostly serves to unite everyone else on the plane in hating them. That they're 100% A-OK with this and do it anyway speaks volumes.
What you say is mostly true but I think you are missing a slice of the emotional support animal crowd. For many the animal doesn't really make their lives easier, it makes their lives harder. It's more than enough to manage your own needs while flying, adding an animal is like adding a kid which just sucks in many ways. More needing support or gaming the system, these people just crave attention. People who bring fake service animals into bars do it because they get a lot of attention that they wouldn't get otherwise. It's a whole new world when you go somewhere that doesn't allow animals with an animal, you (or your animal) can become the center of attention). Most of us will never be the center of attention in many venues of our world unless we shit on the floor or bring an airhorn. A few of this crave this a great deal. I fucking hate people who bring fake service animals places, they deteriorate the societies good will towards people who need these animals to get through the day.