Standing beneath the wing of a wide-body aircraft.
He was smiling proudly.
She remembered him telling her that a checklist existed because people were human.
Even good people became distracted.
Even experienced professionals made mistakes.
Systems needed to catch failures before they became disasters.
She looked back at the investigation.
The airline had spent years building the appearance of perfection.
But behind its polished service, the systems meant to protect passengers and employees had weakened.
She understood what needed to happen.
Not a publicity campaign.
Not a dramatic firing designed to satisfy headlines.
A structural repair.
And she intended to lead it.
When she returned to New York, the airline's board convened an extraordinary meeting.
The conference room overlooked the airport.
Aircraft moved slowly along distant taxiways.
The chairwoman entered carrying a leather folder and a tablet.
She wore a sharply tailored cream suit.
Her hair was pulled into the same elegant low bun.
The board members stood as she approached.
She greeted them.
Then took her seat.
The independent investigators presented their findings.
The presentation lasted more than three hours.
Financial transactions.
Access logs.
Personnel decisions.
Complaint records.
Contract approvals.
Third-party relationships.
Witness statements.
The evidence was substantial.
Several internal controls had failed.
Certain senior employees were suspected of misconduct.
A premium services director appeared to have authorized repeated exceptions benefiting influential clients.
And a consulting intermediary associated with Richard's business network had received information it was not authorized to obtain.
The board's independent directors asked difficult questions.
How long had the practices continued?
Why hadn't the earlier complaints triggered review?
Who approved the contracts?
What financial benefits had been received?
Which regulatory authorities needed to be notified?
Could affected passengers be identified?
What evidence remained missing?
The chairwoman answered what she knew.
Where she did not know, she said so.
Then she presented a remediation plan.
Immediate restriction of unnecessary access permissions.
Independent review of premium client contracts.
Strengthened complaint retention and escalation.
Whistleblower protections.
Additional employee training.
Separation of commercial influence from operational seat allocation.
External monitoring of remediation.
And a commitment to notify affected individuals and relevant authorities where required.
The plan was expensive.
Some directors looked uncomfortable.
One asked whether the airline could afford the reputational damage of disclosing the problem.
The chairwoman looked directly at him.
"The reputational damage already exists."
He frowned.
"Not publicly."
She shook her head.
"Reputation isn't simply what the public knows."