I know this won't fly in general, especially outside the US where tipping is not nearly as customary, but this has been a method to offset low paying jobs where service level influences our overall spending.
I don't know what the lifestyle of a flight attendant is, but if the advancement of flight has reduced their positions to that of a McD's manager, blame us, the general public, because we've forced Airlines to optimize for scale transport.
As for Pilots...it gets tricky because they are very much vital. The seniority crap sucks but is understandable in a job market with a very finite requirement of personnel. To be a Senior Captain with a large carrier, like Singapore Airlines, means you'd be in the 200k+ salary club.
The number of short-hop vs long-leg flights is probably indicative of why there are so many junior level pilots paid less than senior level pilots paid more.
Furthermore, I'd say aircraft like the Airbus 380 compounds this problem by basically forcing a hub and spoke model where the large "carrier" aircraft can only be manned by senior pilots. If we had more direct-direct flights it would open up room for many semi-senior pilots and potentially distribute wages better.