Nevertheless, when the airline makes a mistake, the customer should not be penalized. I'd like to think that most employees realize this.

But I also wonder if the second agent might be hung out to dry because of the honest mistake of the first. With AC looking to chop 214% of their workforce (or whatever the number is this week) I can understand employee's reticence in completing "errors" initiated by others. With everything going on I wouldn't be surprised to find that some (or all) are pretty gun shy.