Cruising Altitude, No Looking Back - Episode 2

Sunrise Airlines has demoted veteran Captain Cole to a sales attendant as the company favors automated safety systems and a new aircraft design. An AI safety check reports the plane 'clear,' and maintenance is ready, while a young, inexperienced Tristan is listed to fly. Ms. Warren pushes recruitment despite concerns, but Cole refuses to trust the machine. He insists on personally inspecting the aircraft even as colleagues protest. With takeoff in twenty minutes, his unilateral decision to override routine reliance on AI forces a direct test of hands-on procedure versus company protocol, outcome unresolved.