Only if the flight is more than 7 days away. And, they make you 'rebook', and as the GP comment said, the fares change on a minute-by-minute basis, so you're probably going to have to pay more.
Let's take your example, using airline tickets. Imagine you are the purchaser of the tickets, and I am the airline you purchased them from.
You might miss the opportunity to book another flight at a cheaper price, since you relied on my promise of a flight, and now you must rebook.
You might miss your opportunity to travel at all, or must now change your travel plans, because all of the flights are overbooked.
You might have budgeted very carefully, and purchased hotel reservations and a car rental, and now I have cancelled your flight and you cannot afford more expensive tickets because you already purchased a hotel and car, and you are over budget.
All of these are reasonable scenarios that I would have encountered traveling, if an airline refused to honor its reservation. This is why contracts have to be honored, and the penalty for breaking a contract is typically more than "you just don't have to honor your side of the contract".