Jetset Lady, you raise some good points and your tales of woe I think well illustrate the pitfalls involved in exercising discretion that may have led the industry to steadily withdraw discretionary authority (the story of the passengers who all suddenly remembered they were travelling to weddings, funerals and dying relatives really made me chuckle - I can just picture the scene...).
But it's important to remember that "discretion" here means (or should mean) discretion to make an on-the-spot decision in the best interests of the airline - which will not always be the same as the best interests of an individual customer. In other words, if some customers must be made unhappy, you should have the discretion to choose the ones whose unhappiness will cost the airline the least. This is a different calculation to deciding who will be most unhappy, or trying to judge the respective merits of competing sob stories.
And this is why profot's story, and the similar tales in other threads, puzzle me. They just make no sense, even when judged from the most hard-nosed mercenary perspective.
Let's take a closer look at this, going right back to basics. The purpose of an airline is to make a profit. The purpose of an airline's terms and conditions is to help it make a profit. They have no other purpose. If a situation should arise where rigid adherence to the terms and conditions will cost an airline more than making an exception to them, what is the point of not making the exception? Adhering to the terms and conditions is not an end in itself.
Now, looking at profot's case, we have:
1. A regular business-class passenger, who has racked up GBP 60,000 worth of travel in the past few months, who regularly travels on a long-haul route that is also served by many other airlines, several of which offer levels of comfort and service equal to or better than BA, at similar prices.
2. A request from this passenger essentially for a favour: to change a non-changeable ticket, valued at about GBP 3000. He has no history of asking for similar things, or otherwise being difficult or demanding.
Putting aside the reason for asking for the favour, and the associated compassionate considerations, here is the calculation:
1. If BA sticks to its guns and insists that the passenger buy another ticket, what are the chances that he will buy it from BA? Answer: zero. So no extra sale.
2. BA keeps the original GBP 3000, and has a chance (but no guarantee) of re-selling the seat. Possible gain here: between 0 and, say, GBP 6000.
3. Original passenger is annoyed and disappointed, and makes the not-very-painful decision to fly CX, SQ, EK, EY, etc, in future. Based on his past travel pattern, BA can expect to lose something in the vicinity of GBP 30000 per year.
Do the sums! Does it make the slightest sense? What do BA staff who are being asked to work for free or take unpaid leave think of business decisions like this?