Theo caught the ball against his chest. “That's what everybody keeps saying. They didn't know.”
“I should have known.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
Derek had arrived prepared to explain the rules of captaincy and the pressures of a delayed aircraft. He let the explanation fall away. “I'm going to tell the truth about what happened. And I'm going to accept whatever they decide. Then I'm going to find out why I made those choices so I don't make them again.”
Theo looked at him for a long time. “You can't make people trust you just by saying you're sorry.”
“I know.”
“Good,” his son said, and threw the ball toward the basket.
At the next committee meeting, the independent report was presented to the board. It recommended formal discipline for Jessica and Morrison, changes to incident reporting, and a review of similar cases that had been closed without meaningful examination. The board was also told that several travelers might pursue legal remedies and that the airline should not make speculative claims about settlement values. Executive management proposed a fund of ten million dollars over three years for training, complaint review, external auditing, and passenger remedies where justified. The sum was substantial enough to require difficult budget decisions but far smaller than sensational estimates circulating online.
Robert Jordan, the chief executive, warned that the company could not buy trust through a press release. “We can approve spending,” he said. “The harder question is whether every supervisor believes it matters more to correct a bad decision than to protect a department's record.”
Patricia Watkins recommended that managers be evaluated partly on the quality of complaint investigations, not the speed with which cases closed. Another director asked whether independent review would expose the company to additional litigation. Leah Benton answered that failing to look for harm did not make harm disappear; it made surprises more likely and redress more difficult. Marcus listened from an adjoining office while the committee handled the individual case because he remained recused from those decisions.
Jessica was ultimately dismissed from passenger-facing duties after the company determined that her conduct violated serious customer-treatment standards. Morrison was suspended from captain duties pending remedial assessment, recurrent training, and review by an independent evaluation panel. The decision did not guarantee that he would return to the flight deck. Both retained the right to contest findings through established channels. Security Officer Kim received a written commendation for verifying the circumstances before acting, while Rodriguez completed additional training in the limits of his role and the importance of independent assessment. Malik was invited to help redesign procedures for junior crew members to raise safety and fairness concerns without retaliation.
Marcus learned the outcomes from counsel rather than announcing them himself. He did not celebrate Jessica's dismissal. She had a daughter, bills, and a future made more uncertain by her decisions. That reality deserved recognition, but it did not entitle her to keep a position of trust after serious misconduct. He asked the committee whether the company had provided appropriate notice, a fair investigation, and access to the employee assistance resources available under its policies. Counsel confirmed that it had.