Daniel read the sentence again.
His father had always believed that a company's reputation was built through thousands of small interactions.
A delayed flight could be forgiven.
A lost suitcase could be replaced.
An uncomfortable seat could be changed.
But when a customer was made to feel inferior because of their appearance, the damage was much harder to repair.
Daniel turned to another page.
There was a handwritten note in the margin.
NEVER ALLOW PROFIT TO BECOME MORE IMPORTANT THAN PEOPLE.
He stared at the words for a long moment.
Then his phone vibrated.
It was a message from Thomas Reed, the company's chief financial officer.
THOMAS: Daniel, we need to discuss the customer experience investigation before today's meeting. There are developments you should know about.
Daniel immediately replied.
DANIEL: What developments?
A few seconds passed.
Then another message appeared.
THOMAS: The internal reports don't match the original complaints. Some incidents were closed without proper investigation.
Daniel sat up straighter.
DANIEL: How many?
THOMAS: At least seventeen confirmed cases. Possibly more.
Daniel looked toward the window.
Seventeen.
That was not a misunderstanding.
It was a pattern.
He typed another message.
DANIEL: Who approved the closures?
Thomas did not answer immediately.
Instead, he sent a short response.
THOMAS: I'll explain when you arrive. Please don't discuss this over an unsecured channel.
Daniel placed the phone on his lap.
He had expected problems.
But he had not expected someone inside the organization to be deliberately hiding them.
Across the aisle, Evelyn noticed the change in his expression.
"Something wrong?"
Daniel looked up.
"No, ma'am."
"You seem rather serious for someone your age."
"I'm reading something important."
Evelyn gave a small laugh.
"Business documents?"
"Yes."
She looked at his folder.
"Do you understand all of that?"
Daniel nodded.
"Most of it."
Evelyn shook her head.
"Well, that's certainly ambitious."
Daniel returned to his reading.
He was no longer interested in her opinions.
His attention was focused on the seventeen complaints.
He wanted to know who had ignored them, why they had been ignored, and whether the people responsible were still working for the airline.
He opened another document.
It contained the name of the executive responsible for overseeing customer relations.
VICTOR HARRINGTON β SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
Daniel recognized the name.
Harrington had worked for the company for nearly twelve years.
He had been praised for reducing operating costs and improving the airline's customer satisfaction statistics.
But the figures now looked suspicious.
Customer complaints had apparently decreased by almost forty percent in six months.
At the time, the board had celebrated the achievement.
Now Daniel wondered whether the complaints had actually decreased or whether someone had simply stopped recording them.
He closed the folder.
For the first time that morning, he felt genuinely angry.
Not because of what Evelyn had said.
Because somewhere, there were passengers who had experienced the same humiliation and had never received an apology.
He looked at the cabin around him.
Every person sitting there had trusted the airline with something valuable.
Their time.
Their money.
Their safety.
Their dignity.
And he intended to find out whether that trust had been betrayed.
At the airline's headquarters in New York, Thomas Reed was sitting in a conference room with two other senior executives.
One of them was Victor Harrington.
Harrington was a polished businessman in his early fifties. He wore tailored suits, spoke confidently, and had spent years cultivating relationships with influential people.
He was also deeply protective of his position.
Thomas placed a folder on the table.
"We need to discuss the customer complaint records."
Victor barely looked at it.
"Again?"
"Yes."
"I thought we had already resolved this."
"We resolved the reporting issue. We haven't resolved the actual complaints."
Victor leaned back.
"Thomas, the company cannot investigate every emotional reaction from every passenger."
"These aren't emotional reactions. They're documented incidents."
"People misunderstand things. Staff members make mistakes. It happens."
Thomas opened the folder.
"Seventeen passengers reported being treated differently because of their race or appearance. Several of them provided supporting evidence."
Victor's expression remained calm.
"And how many were substantiated?"
"At least eleven."
"Then the department handled them."
"No, Victor. The department closed them."
Victor looked irritated.
"What's the difference?"
"The difference is that nobody interviewed the employees involved. Nobody contacted the passengers afterward. And several reports were marked as resolved within minutes of being submitted."