[airlines] between a rock and a hard place

Nose-gear falls off NWA plane upon landing

The United States and the European Union failed to reach a new deal on sharing air passenger data by Saturday's deadline, putting airlines at risk of huge fines or the loss of landing rights if they do not hand over data to U.S. authorities. Such data - including passengers' names, addresses and credit card details - must be transferred to U.S. authorities within 15 minutes of a flight's departure for the United States. But the talks in Washington broke down before the deadline, triggering a risk of massive disruptions. Without the deal, airlines that do hand over passenger data to U.S. authorities could face legal action from national data protection authorities in EU states, the Commission said. So bureaucratic infighting wins the day again. Let the airline disasters begin.