I think this topic will be closed soon.
But while we are still trading
I will throw in this little quip from a related story about an AA pilot doing the same thing. Quoted from USA Today.
"The pilot, Dale Robin Hersh, lifted his middle finger while undergoing the new security process at Sao Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport, said federal prosecutor Matheus Baraldi Magnani.
<SNIP>
American Airlines spokeswoman Martha Pantin said the incident was the result of a misunderstanding.
"The company apologizes to the Brazilian government, the airport authorities, the police or anyone else who may have perceived anything they believe to have been disrespectful," Pantin said."
Anybody else out there (except, by the looks of it, everyone employed by AA) deem this gesture anything but disrespectful???