Then she said, "We need an independent investigation."
I nodded.
"Agreed."
She continued.
"Not one managed by Graham's department."
"Absolutely not."
She opened her laptop.
"I'll contact outside counsel to discuss scope and preservation requirements."
I nodded.
"We also need to preserve the booking and dispatch records."
"Already requested."
"Ground staff communications."
"Yes."
"Relevant complaint histories."
"Yes."
I looked toward her.
"And we need to protect Elena."
Catherine met my eyes.
"I know."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then she asked, "What about Victoria?"
I leaned back.
"Her conduct needs to be reviewed under the customer policy."
"Do you want her membership canceled?"
I considered the question.
"I want the same standards applied that we'd apply to anyone else."
Catherine nodded.
"Good."
Then she hesitated.
"There's another problem."
I looked up.
"What?"
She turned the laptop toward me.
An email was open.
It came from Graham Pierce.
The subject line concerned the Langford relationship.
I began reading.
The message described Victoria as a strategically important customer whose family was considering a major enterprise aviation agreement.
It urged operations to make reasonable exceptions to preserve the relationship.
Then came the sentence that made my stomach tighten.
If necessary, reassign lower-priority passengers to maintain the Langford experience.
I stared.
"Lower-priority passengers?"
Catherine nodded.
"That's the phrase."
I looked toward the rest of the email.
Graham had included several recipients.
A senior concierge manager.
Two customer experience supervisors.
And an executive responsible for corporate sales.
I read the message again.
Then asked, "What does lower priority mean?"
Catherine took a breath.
"That's exactly what we need to establish."
I looked at her.
"Because if we're ranking passengers by their wealth and moving them without legitimate operational reasons, we have a serious problem."
She nodded.
"And if those decisions are influenced by discriminatory assumptions, it's worse."
I leaned back.
For a moment, I stared at the ceiling.
The company I founded had started with a simple promise.
Every passenger would receive the service they purchased, and every employee would be treated with dignity.
Now a senior executive was using language that suggested some people mattered less than others.
I closed my eyes.
Then said quietly, "Suspend the expansion presentation."
Catherine looked surprised.