“Some of them.”
“And nobody thought to investigate?”
Rebecca pulled up a chair.
“You’re learning something important about large companies.”
“What?”
“Everyone assumes someone else is responsible.”
Tyler looked at her.
“Were you?”
Rebecca was silent.
That was enough.
The next day, Emma joined them.
Tyler placed the files on the conference table.
“These aren’t system errors.”
Emma looked at him.
“What are they?”
“Stories.”
She waited.
Tyler continued.
“We treat them like numbers because numbers are easier.”
Emma slowly smiled.
“Now you’re thinking like an executive.”
“I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”
“It isn’t always.”
They reviewed the cases together.
Twenty-three complaints had originally been recorded.
But after expanding the search, the team discovered more than eighty incidents connected to the same warning process.
Some passengers had been delayed.
Some had been embarrassed.
Some had been questioned publicly.
Four had missed important connections.
One had lost a nonrefundable hotel reservation.
And one complaint stood out from the rest.
The name on the file was Margaret Lewis.
Emma opened it.
Then stopped.
“What is it?” Rebecca asked.
Emma read silently.
Margaret had been denied boarding because an employee misunderstood a system warning.
Security had been called.
According to the report, the passenger became “uncooperative.”
Tyler frowned.
“What happened?”
Emma turned the screen toward him.
Margaret Lewis had been traveling to Seattle to attend her daughter’s wedding.
She missed the flight.
She missed the rehearsal dinner.
The next morning, the wedding took place without her.
Tyler felt his stomach tighten.
“Did she file a complaint?”
“Yes.”
“Was it answered?”
Rebecca checked the records.
“No.”
The room went silent.
Emma slowly closed the file.
“Find her.”
Tyler looked up.
“Find her?”
Emma stood.
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do?”
Emma looked at him.
“What should we do?”
Tyler thought about it.
The old version of himself might have said that the company should issue a formal apology, provide compensation, and close the case.
But now he understood that the incident was not a number.
“It depends on what she needs,” he said.
Emma nodded.
“Good.”
Tyler picked up the phone.
For the first time, he was not calling a passenger to explain why the company could not help.
Chương 8
He was calling because the company had finally decided to listen.
And he had a feeling that the conversation ahead would change him even more than Gate 27 had.
Margaret Lewis did not answer the first time.
Or the second.
On the third attempt, Tyler left a voicemail.
“Ms. Lewis, my name is Tyler Brooks. I’m calling from Horizon Air Group regarding an incident involving your flight last year. I know this is unexpected, but our company is conducting a review, and I would be grateful for an opportunity to speak with you.”
He almost added, We want to make things right.
But he stopped himself.
He had learned not to promise something before understanding what had actually gone wrong.
Two hours later, his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Is this Mr. Brooks?”
“Yes.”
“This is Margaret Lewis.”
Tyler straightened in his chair.
“Ms. Lewis. Thank you for calling me.”
“I almost didn’t.”
“I understand.”
There was silence.
Then Margaret said, “Why are you calling after eleven months?”
Tyler looked through the report in front of him.
Because the company had failed her.
Because nobody had bothered to answer her complaint.
Because the system had turned her into another closed case.
But he did not begin with excuses.
“Because we should have called you eleven months ago.”
The silence that followed was longer.
Tyler continued.
“I reviewed what happened. I know you were delayed at the gate. I know security was called. And I know you missed the rehearsal dinner for your daughter’s wedding.”
Margaret’s voice changed.
“Do you know what the worst part was?”
Tyler swallowed.