"Save the corporate boilerplate, Rick," Desmond replied coolly. "Your stock is going to take a 5% hit at the opening bell, and 58 of your aircraft are currently burning fuel at the gates. You have a massive crisis. How do you intend to fix it?"
"Anything you want," Halloway pleaded, the desperation bleeding through the speaker. "I have already permanently banned Preston Montgomery and his entire corporate entity from flying with us. We are terminating our corporate contracts with them. As for the crew, I will fire Captain Mitchell and the purser immediately. They will never fly a commercial route again."
Captain Mitchell closed his eyes, a single tear of humiliation leaking out. His 30-year career, his pension, his reputation, evaporating in a matter of seconds.
"No," Desmond said.
The single word hung in the air. Mitchell opened his eyes, looking at Desmond in stunned disbelief.
"Excuse me, Mr. Hayes?" Halloway asked, clearly confused.
"You are not firing the captain," Desmond stated, his gaze fixed on Mitchell. "Captain Mitchell made a cowardly decision tonight. He allowed his purser to dictate security protocols based on corporate pandering. He looked at a Black man in a sweater and a white man in a Tom Ford suit and made a biased, lazy assumption. But firing him doesn't fix your systemic rot, Rick."
"Keep him on the roster. But he will face your internal disciplinary board. He will undergo intensive retraining on bias and conflict de-escalation. And he will spend the next six months flying regional puddle jumpers out of Des Moines. If he proves he has learned what it means to actually captain a vessel without prejudice, he can have his wide-bodies back. Do you understand, Captain?"
Mitchell let out a ragged breath, overwhelmed by the sudden, brutal mercy.
"Yes, sir," Mitchell choked out to the phone. "I understand. Thank you. God, thank you."
"As for your purser, Richard," Desmond continued, his tone hardening, "he is terminated, effective immediately. He instigated the lie. He escalated the conflict. And he actively silenced a junior crew member who tried to tell the truth. I want him off the aircraft before I step back onto it."
"Done," Halloway said instantly. "He's gone. Consider him terminated."
"And the young flight attendant, Khloe," Desmond added. "She was the only person on your payroll tonight with a shred of integrity. You will promote her to first-class purser, and you will give her a substantial commendation bonus. If I find out she faces any retaliation from her peers, I will recall your fleet for good."