Captain, I have been treated abysmally by your staff. I am a diamond medallion member with over a million miles flown, and I have been subjected to insults and indignity from the moment I boarded. "You were asked to take your seat," the captain stated flatly, his expression as readable as a concrete wall. That is standard procedure for any passenger. The issue, Caroline pressed her voice, hardening, as I have explained multiple times, is my seating assignment.
I have my preferences. I have standards, and I expect those to be respected. Miller was not interested in games. His patience, vast as it was, had specific boundaries, and those boundaries were defined by one question and one question only. Can this plane take off safely and on time?
Ma'am," he said, his voice, shedding any remaining pretense of warmth. "Let me be perfectly clear because I will only say this once. This aircraft is a common carrier operating under federal law. We do not discriminate, and we do not permit our passengers to impose discriminatory conditions on their fellow travelers. Your preference, as you call it, is not a valid basis for refusing your assigned seat or demanding that another passenger be relocated."
He paused. Not for dramatic effect, for clarity. You have two options. Option one, you take your assigned seat 2H immediately and conduct yourself with the civility that we expect of all passengers for the duration of this flight. Option two, you deplain.
We will remove your luggage from the cargo hold and you may make alternative travel arrangements. He clasped his hands behind his back. We will not be debating this. The finality in his voice was absolute. It was the vocal equivalent of a steel door closing.
This was not the negotiation Caroline had expected. She had expected what she always got when she deployed the words diamond medallion and loyalty and standards. She expected accommodation. She expected someone to say, "Of course, Mrs. Davenport, let us make this right for you." Instead, she had been given an ultimatum by a man whose face made it clear that he would carry it out without hesitation.
Her expression, that mask of righteous indignation she had been wearing like armor, began to crack. Not break, not yet. But crack the way ice cracks before it gives way. Delane, she repeated the word, seeming to physically hurt her. You cannot be serious.
I have a multi-million pound deal to close in London tomorrow morning. My husband's company has an exclusive corporate account with this airline. Do you have any idea who we are? She played the card, the corporate account card, the do you know who I am card. She played it with the absolute certainty of a woman who had never had it declined.