Bump and ride

It's just what airlines are allowed to do to travellers: take their money and then muck them around at will.

- Jane Clifton

Humans are hard-wired to choose between fight and flight, but increasingly modern air travel demands both simultaneously.

The aggravation, stress and loss of all normal agency entailed in catching a plane would not be tolerated in any other modern transaction.

A single air traffic control glitch in London has caused global disruption for weeks. This was almost not news, since the inconvenience was not a novel experience for any of the passengers involved.

In any other situation, what ensued would be classified variously as theft, kidnapping, extortion, reckless endangerment and fraud. For travellers, it's just what airlines are allowed to do to them: take their money and then muck them around at will. You'd as soon get a kidney donation as a refund.