While I agree that some people wouldn't be able to spot common sense if it jumped around in front of them, waving its arms about and shouting through a loud hailer, “I'm Common Sense!”, I believe that most people do have it but are afraid to use it.
Your link is a case in point. I'm sure that some of the airline staff who were telling Kurt Fearnley that he'd have to check his wheelchair in etc. must have thought... “Hang on, this isn't right...”. But unfortunately, they are hamstrung by rules and regulations that effectively stifle all and any attempts at independent thought. Employees very rarely deviate from “Company Policy”, no matter how ludicrous, vindictive or unreasonable that policy may be for fear of dismissal.
These days, private companies and public organisation have a reputation for coming down disproportionately heavily on staff who deviate from the holy grail of “Policy”. In an attempt to mitigate the possibility of legal action, organisations try to write procedures for every possible eventuality. And woe betide the employee who deviates from them.
Mostly these edicts from on high are written by people who must continually justify their existence by routinely inventing new ways of doing things (even if the “old” ways are perfectly efficacious) and doling out the most puerile, patronising and insulting “advice”. Because they think they know best how you should be doing your job.