One cannot discuss the Air Canada response without understanding the characteristics of the illness, because the Air Canada response is based upon assumptions that the airline has made and its own best interests. The waiver relies on those assumptions and the airline continues to sell tickets, without a caution to customers, to destinations now considered at risk.
It appears that the airline is "self regulating' in a vacuum of no guidance having been provided by the federal government: Guidance as in what to do with scheduled flights and how to manage pax onboard. As such, Air Canada's conduct can be seen as acting on its own behalf and not for the greater good of society. Changes in case circumstances from the time the initial waiver policy was made include;
- Fatality rate now exceeding 3%
- Super shedder patient identified. A super shedder is one who is more infectious than others. In this case, a patient rapidly infected 15+ patients. Air Canada does not have a cabin management instruction for this.
- Air Canada has relied upon the questionable public health screening procedures at airports as a get out of jail card. T

Air Canada gambled on its China routes and IMO been losing. The end result is that the waiver policy from Air Canada is intended to preserve its business and not necessarily protect customers.
IMO Air Canada has been irresponsible and not acted to protect its passengers. Ideally, the airline should be directed to refund/waive all NE Asia tickets, and to suspend all service to mainland China and those transiting from the mainland until the mainland government confirms that the epidemic is contained.