Not sure I agree - definitely becoming more of an issue on BA flights than it was a few years ago, particularly on domestic/short haul where their fare structures allow people to book cheaper hand baggage only fares (meaning of course loads more is lugged into the cabin).
Flew with Easyjet this week, no issues at all ironically but as it was a holiday flight the vast majority had obviously checked luggage in. It's also a much more pleasant experience with them now they have allocated seating so avoiding the boarding scrum that used to occur. When we checked in we were offered the opportunity to check our hand luggage into the hold for free.
Both airlines are now also regularly offering free checking in of hand baggage at the gate on busy flights in my experience.
Hmmm. Good point about holiday customers versus non-holiday. Now I think about it the flights I have with hassle are probably the ones with more holiday makers/city-breakers. That said I use EasyJet a lot and have now joined the Plus program which really does take a lot of the ball-ache out of traveling (and totally removes the hand luggage discussion) ; highly recommended and gives a lot of value. Since that big Greek bloke left they've improved no end. Staff are less snooty than BA as well.