This weekend we read about Southwest emergency landing in Arizona after a fuselage rupture and decompression. the rising costs of using credit cards overseas, the coming demise of outdoor cafe heaters in France and TSA under fire from lawsuits, federal and state government entities.

In a world of airline a-la-carte fees run amok, American’s Five Star Service program is just the latest that is meant to monetize services that used to come standard with your airline ticket.