Doug's review reached a separate conclusion. He had repeatedly failed to ensure meaningful examination of complaints, approved inaccurate closure summaries, and allowed performance measures to be presented without the qualifications necessary to understand their limits. Several internal emails showed that he had discouraged further scrutiny of Gary because the supervisor's premium customer scores helped the regional performance reports. Doug disputed some findings, and the company reviewed his response, but the essential pattern remained supported by the records.
His employment ended after the board committee and human resources completed the process. Doug returned his security card and left headquarters through the ordinary front entrance, carrying a small box of personal belongings. At the glass doors he passed a new employee wearing a visitor badge, a woman who looked uncertain about where she was supposed to go. The receptionist stood up immediately and offered to help her, and Doug found himself watching the exchange longer than he intended.
Skyline published a restrained statement confirming the independent review, the employment actions, the new safeguards, and the continuing examination of the additional incidents. It did not name the fourteen passengers or turn their experiences into a publicity campaign. The statement also explained how affected customers could seek reimbursement or correction of their records. Imani approved the final wording only after the legal team confirmed that every assertion had documentation behind it.
Tasha brought the published report to her office that afternoon. "Six weeks," she said, setting the folder down. "Twenty-three additional cases across three airports. Gary and Pruitt both gone. The new policy starts Monday."
Imani looked at the long list of follow-up tasks beneath the summary. "That's a start," she replied. "The policy exists on paper now. Monday we find out whether people can actually use it when the line is long and everyone is tired."
Tasha glanced at the framed photograph of Walter Brooks on the shelf. "Your father would've been proud of the chair who made this happen." Imani shook her head gently. "He would've asked how many complaints we prevented, not how many executives we replaced. Then he'd ask if the ramp workers got lunch and whether the gate agents had enough staff. He'd have been right about both."
The first Monday under the revised seating policy began before sunrise at a gate in St. Louis, where a flight was running thirty minutes behind schedule and a family of four had been separated by a genuine aircraft substitution. The lead gate agent opened the new exception form, entered the aircraft configuration change, and requested a second supervisor's review while a passenger watched anxiously from the counter. The screen took longer than anyone liked to load. Yet when the supervisor arrived, she examined the seat map, explained why the original assignments could not remain together, and offered the family a choice between two workable alternatives.