The contract is what gives them the right to cancel. You can buy a flight ticket that won't be cancelled but you'd have to pay the premium required to charter the whole plane.

Generally contracts, especially B2C preformulated, non-negotiable T&Cs, are held to some standard of whether they're conscionable, reasonable, non-surprising etc.

How a contract that allows the company to unilaterally back out supposedly passes those tests in the EU boggles my mind.

Actually right now in Europe most (maybe all?) flights can be rescheduled for free in response to the pandemic. Is that not the case elsewhere?

You need to read the terms and conditions you agreed to when you book.

This isn't true. You can refund on flight cancellation.

He’s saying if he books the ticket and decides that he doesn’t want to fly for whatever reason, he’s not getting his money back if the flight doesn’t get canceled but that doesn’t seem to be the case for the airline.

Isn't that generally the case? I have never seen a situation where the airline cancelled a flight and didn't have to refund the passengers or offer another flight. Maybe a secondary/discount travel agency would make it hard to get a refund, but I'm pretty sure an airline can't just not fly you and keep your money.

I was refunded a flight just last week in the US.

And in Europe, there are laws on the books that the airline has to take care of you if there's an extensive delay. For instance, they have to pay for a meal at the airport if you have to wait for more than a few extra hours, and put you up at an airport if it's going to be overnight or offer a replacement train ticket.

I think I’m still not being clear.

The passenger can’t change their mind and get a refund if they decide they don’t want to fly anymore even if the flight goes on as scheduled.

The airline can change their mind and not provide the flight (and offer refund but that’s beside the point) if they decide they don’t want to fly as scheduled because it’s not profitable for them.

It’s a one sided contract. The airline has my money guaranteed (unless they decide they don’t want it) but I am not guaranteed to have the flight. It’s not about getting refunded if the flight gets canceled.

Most airlines offer refundable tickets which cost more. If you opt for a lower priced ticket without the option to change or refund, that’s the trade off you’re making

You have to pay more for fully refundable whereas all tickets are refundable by the airline if they don't feel like holding up their end of the contract. :-)

When you buy the non-refundable tickets, you agree to a contract in which they have unilateral rights to refusal. There is no obligation that every contract should enure equally to both parties :-)

Yeah, I definitely get that. Reminder that I wasn't the original person that made this point, I was simply clarifying it for them because I agreed with it. I am fully aware of the terms of the agreement when I buy flights but that doesn't make it any less hostile to customers. There aren't any alternatives to flying over oceans or even just long distances.

I think airlines engage in plenty of customer-hostile policies. I would argue that offering a clearly labled non-refundable option at a discount is not one of them.