JTR...
In the US, Mayday may or may not be the operative word...
If in fact the crew said or declared a fuel "EMERGENCY", then they should be given all assistance, even if it means diverting or delaying other air traffic in the pattern....
Does anyone remember the "limited English" Avinaca B-707 crew that flamed out at JFK a decade ago?
The FAA's lessons should have been learned there, not in this day and age with a native English speaking crew at their home hub...
No excuse here folks, somewhere in the DFW ATC crew needs to lose their job, or at least be demoted a few grades to entry-level or basic FPL Controller...
And Bomarc, I agree with you...if I thought I was running out of gas, I'm landing....where I feel it's the safest...then I'll let the chips fall where they may....If this crew had flamed out and had an accident, no doubt the Capt would be trashed for not executing his "Command Authority" and ATC would only be listed as a "Contributing Factor"...