Airline passenger's balancing act

As we all know, in today's unfriendly skies, the passenger who makes too much fuss risks being arrested on landing and having their name added to the No-Fly list. Apparently, though, if you don't make enough fuss, you may lose the right to sue:

A federal district judge in Arkansas has dismissed a class-action lawsuit that sought damages from American Airlines for an incident in December 2006 where passengers were stranded on the tarmac in Austin for 9½ hours, unable to get off their plane. According to FlyersRights.org, an organisation formed in the aftermath of that episode, Robert Dawson, the judge, wrote that the court was "sympathetic to the plaintiff". But he ruled that the airline had no duty to provide passengers with "a stress-free environment". He found that the named plaintiff had never personally "told the pilots or the flight attendants that she wanted to deplane" so there was no "wilful detention".

American Airlines is probably just jealous of the enviable title won by Alitalia: the "World's Worst Airline".