I listened on the radio this afternoon to people complain about this.
They had the opportunity on the screen in front of them to protect themselves in the event something like this happened... fully refundable fares were presented to them, along with other options with no cost or low cost changes right up to the point of departure. Of course they could have bought travel insurance... When people buy tickets and their plans have to change, whether or not it's their "fault", that's just the way it goes...
Should have paid the extra few bucks and got the fare that covered changes.