First up, I am absolutely NOT excusing her incredibly poor judgment. But I think this problem is only going to get worse unless the airlines make a very big leap of faith to help fix it. In the end, it will be better for their bottom line, too. See when someone spends hundreds or thousands of dollars on a plane fare and then they get sick, theyre going to fly anyway because its non-refundable. Very few people can afford to just let a thousand or two thousand dollars go. So make all plane fares refundable until the ebola issue is resolved. This will encourage people who are ill NOT to fly until they get checked out, and it will reassure those passengers who do fly that they are less likely to be exposed to contagion. To say nothing of actually helping to contain what could become a major problem for which airlines would be a major vector. In the end, the airlines (who are going to take it on the chin if ebola really spreads) will end up ahead by making all fares refundable. Also, an excellent opportunity for corporate interests to look out for themselves while also appearing compassionate toward their consumers.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 07:03:25 +0000