"Between January and June, our customer service department received multiple complaints concerning inappropriate treatment. Several passengers reported being questioned about their tickets despite having valid reservations. Others described being spoken to disrespectfully by employees."
The next slide appeared.
"These complaints were recorded as resolved. However, our review indicates that most were never properly investigated."
A board member leaned forward.
"How many were closed without contacting the passenger?"
"Eleven."
Another executive frowned.
"That's unacceptable."
Thomas continued.
"Some reports were closed within minutes. In several cases, the employee involved was never interviewed."
Victor interrupted.
"I think we need to be careful about drawing conclusions from incomplete records."
Thomas looked at him.
"The records are complete."
"Not necessarily."
Daniel raised one hand.
"Victor, you'll have an opportunity to respond. Please allow Thomas to finish."
Victor leaned back.
Thomas continued.
"We also discovered that the department's performance targets were heavily based on reducing the number of unresolved complaints."
A board member frowned.
"Who introduced those targets?"
Thomas changed the slide.
The name appeared.
VICTOR HARRINGTON β SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
The room became silent.
Victor adjusted his tie.
"I introduced those targets to improve efficiency."
Daniel looked at him.
"Did you instruct your department to close complaints without investigating them?"
"Absolutely not."
"Then how did it happen?"
Victor spread his hands.
"Administrative mistakes. Poor judgment by junior employees. We cannot assume senior management was involved."
Thomas opened another document.
"We have emails showing that your office instructed department managers to prioritize complaint closure rates."
Victor's expression hardened.
"Those emails are being taken out of context."
Thomas displayed one of them.
The message was dated March 14.
It read:
All departments must reduce unresolved customer complaints before the quarterly review. Cases that cannot be verified should be closed according to existing guidelines.
Daniel studied the email.
"Victor, what does 'cannot be verified' mean?"
"It means we shouldn't keep cases open indefinitely when customers fail to provide sufficient information."
"Did these passengers receive follow-up calls?"
Victor hesitated.
"Not necessarily."
"Did anyone interview the employees involved?"
"That would depend on the case."
Thomas interrupted.
"Several employees were never even informed that a complaint had been filed against them."
Daniel looked back at Victor.
"Then how could the complaints have been investigated?"
Victor sighed.
"Daniel, you're approaching this from an emotional perspective. Running a major airline requires difficult decisions."
Daniel remained silent for a moment.
Then he asked a question that changed the atmosphere in the room.
"Do you believe a passenger who cannot afford First Class deserves less respect than someone who can?"
Victor looked surprised.
"Of course not."
"Then why were complaints from certain passengers treated as less important?"
"That's not what happened."
"How do you know?"
Victor opened his mouth.
But he had no clear answer.
Daniel turned toward the board.
"I want an independent investigation. Every complaint must be reviewed. Every affected passenger must be contacted. Employees who followed the correct procedures must be protected."
He paused.
"And I want to know whether this culture exists beyond the customer experience department."
A board member nodded.
"That is reasonable."
Victor shifted in his chair.
"Are we seriously discussing a company-wide investigation because of a few complaints?"
Daniel looked directly at him.
"No. We're discussing it because we discovered that people trusted our company, reported mistreatment, and were ignored."
He placed his father's old handwritten note on the table.
"My father didn't build this airline so we could make our reports look better than our reality."
The room fell silent.
Daniel continued.
"If our statistics say customers are happy while our customers are telling us otherwise, then our statistics are meaningless."
Thomas lowered his eyes.
He remembered Michael Brooks saying almost exactly the same thing years earlier.
Victor looked around the room.
He was beginning to understand that Daniel was not going to accept an easy explanation.
And for the first time, he realized that his position might not survive the investigation.
While the board meeting continued, Sarah Carter received an urgent message from the airline's security department.
The subject line read:
FLIGHT 728 β REQUEST FOR SECURITY FOOTAGE PRESERVATION.
She opened it.
The message explained that the aircraft's forward cabin camera had captured part of the interaction between Evelyn and Daniel.
The recording had not yet been reviewed.
Sarah immediately forwarded the message to Thomas.
He read it and approached Daniel.
"There's something you should see."