When Covid-19 caused Quebec to pause its economy and Canada to close its borders last March, like thousands of others I had to cancel a number of upcoming flights booked on European, American and Canadian air carriers.
The European and American airlines fully reimbursed me. The Canadian carriers sent me non-transferable and non-refundable vouchers for use over the next 24 months.
Why the difference in treatment?
The rule of thumb in commercial exchanges is that a risk is allocated to the person best able to control or manage such risk. If no party is able to do so, the risk is then allocated to the party best able to bear the consequences of such risk, often the person with the “deepest pockets.”
In Europe and the US, the authorities or the marketplace have deemed that the party best able to bear the Covid-19 risk were the airlines.
In Canada, the authorities came to the conclusion that a hybrid solution was preferable.
This search for compromise and sharing of the burden is very Canadian, and examples exist in many other industries. Sometimes it is beneficial and sometimes it is detrimental.
It will take some time for the roll out of a Covid-19 vaccine. Until then the risk of sanitary measures remains, including border closings. In order to mitigate such risk, I would think that one would want to buy tickets from carriers that promise a full refund should further Covid-19 events occur.
