ExXB thanks for clarification and I was aware that you cannot sign away your rights.
boredcounter
Is it me, or is it just the glamorous, cash rich aviation industry treated this way?
Good question. I think this is all to do with history, like 1950s/60s even 70s, when few people travelled by air and it was glam and the airlines made some cash. I recall my great aunt telling me about the Imperial flying boats and her journey to Cape Town across an amazingly quick six days, staying in hotels each night.
In this regard, it's very much akin to the BA CC having to update their Ts&Cs (unpleasant though that might be) to 21st century economics. All of this has happened before, of course, when the great shipping lines passed from their apogee to become just cruise ships with non-urgent traffic. They used to make money and be glamorous ... For a country, having your 'own' international shipping line and flag ship was very important for status. That passed on to the airlines and people are loathe to give it up without any new place to transfer it. But, I digress.