Don’t you feel sorry for the airlines? Nothing ever works out for them. At first we only worried about repeated instances of bankruptcy. But now, a couple sues United for giving the husband too much wine, causing him to hit his wife six times before clearing the customs and immigrations area.

A husband and wife are suing United Airlines for “negligently” overserving alcohol during a flight from Osaka, Japan, to San Francisco, saying the carrier’s drinks fueled the domestic violence involving the two shortly after their plane landed.

Fortified with Burgundy wine allegedly supplied at 20-minute intervals by United crew members during the December 2006 trip, Yoichi Shimamoto became so inebriated “that he could not manage himself,” according to a lawsuit filed Dec. 5 in U.S. District Court in Tampa.

Shimamoto was arrested, accused of disorderly conduct and battery after he struck his wife, Ayisha, six times, injuring her face and upper lip as they were heading through U.S. Customs in San Francisco, the complaint said.

I know a lot of people who become grumpy after long flights, but this seems a bit extreme. I’ll definitely be on the look-out for those heavy drinkers on my next flight.