“Richard says it’s only guidance.”Marcus kept his voice low so the twins would not hear.
“How many complaints?”“Internal Audit found eighty-seven over three years involving passengers questioned after valid premium boarding.”
“How many justified by actual ticket problems?”“Eleven.”
Marcus swallowed.“What happened to the others?”
“Most were marked resolved locally.”“Meaning?”
“Apologies, miles, refunds.”“Employee discipline?”
Amelia hesitated.“Sometimes.”
Marcus looked down the aisle toward Sarah.She was serving drinks with the practiced smile of someone who knew how to make a cabin feel peaceful even when her own pulse was probably still high.
“Did Sarah ever file one?”Another pause.
“Yes.”Marcus sat straighter.
“Two years ago she objected when a supervisor asked a family to prove they had purchased First Class even though the manifest was valid. She wrote that the cabin-fit policy encouraged staff to distrust passengers before identifying an actual problem.”“What happened?”
“She received a coaching memo for challenging a supervisor in front of customers.”Marcus’s hand tightened around the tablet.
He had spent his career boasting that Pacific Meridian’s employees were empowered to speak up. Yet somewhere beneath glossy annual reports, a flight attendant had done exactly that and been told her honesty was itself a service failure.**The policy had started with Marcus’s sentence, but Richard’s department had turned ambiguity into hierarchy.**
“Does Richard know we found this?”“No.”
“Keep it that way until the board review.”Amelia lowered her voice.
“There’s something else.”“What?”