Brock's eyes filled with tears. "I was trying to de-escalate."
"You were making the easier person pay for the louder person's conduct. The records establish the error, and several witness accounts may establish a more troubling reason for your choice. I will not pre-judge the investigation, but I am not going to disguise what I am hearing."
"Sir, I've spent thirty years with this airline."
"Then you know we cannot treat a paid passenger as expendable because another customer is influential. You also know that a captain's safety authority is not a shortcut around a seating dispute. Mr. Phillips remains in 1A. You will correct the manifest and apologize for how you handled it."
Brock looked up helplessly at Robert, but the captain had no assistance to offer. He had made his own choice, and the consequence of it was standing in front of him. Richard continued in a quieter voice.
"I also want you to understand something that has nothing to do with corporate accounts. If the same thing happened to a student, a teacher, or a mechanic with no executive's number to call, your duty would be identical. We cannot allow the treatment of one passenger to depend on how expensive it would be to mistreat him."
Brock gripped the phone harder. "I understand."
"We will see what the evidence shows. Please return the phone to Mr. Phillips."
Before she could comply, Preston reached toward her. He had listened to enough of the conversation to understand that his preferred outcome was disappearing, but not enough to recognize that his own behavior was the reason. His face had grown red, his breathing was loud, and his expensive shirt was wrinkled where he had clenched it in frustration.
"Give me that," he snapped, taking the phone from Brock's hand.
"Mr. Carmichael—" she protested.
"Harrington? Preston Carmichael here, managing partner at Oakmont Capital. I'm the customer whose flight your people canceled this morning, and I've had enough of this nonsense. I spend a fortune with your airline. You need to tell this man to get out of my seat."
Richard waited until Preston stopped to breathe. "Mr. Carmichael, the seat was already assigned to another passenger before the system incorrectly issued you a duplicate pass."
"I don't care about your software. I'm Diamond Elite. I fly over a hundred thousand miles a year."
"Your loyalty matters to us. It does not give you the right to intimidate another customer."
"You ought to think very carefully about how you speak to me. Oakmont has an entire travel budget I can take somewhere else."
"And you should think carefully about how you've spoken to our staff and to Mr. Phillips. Your conduct is being documented. We will investigate it under the conditions of carriage and the loyalty-program rules. If you continue to threaten people on the aircraft, you will not be traveling on this flight."
Preston gave an incredulous laugh. "Are you threatening to take away my status?"