And who would take over for him? Bastian has set the example: purge anyone who might challenge your job at some point.

That mindset is certainly embraced in flight ops. The managers under Gumm are each a combination of Delta ideologues, pilot-haters, imbeciles, and self-serving buddy *******[mod edit].

Gumm can’t get fired. The next guys up are even worse than he is, if that’s possible. Picking a pilot at random from the seniority list may actually be a better succession plan.