One Meridian, Many Cracks: Power, Change, and the Politics of Standardization

Meridian Air is a mid-size regional airline that recently acquired a smaller, more progressive carrier in a deal framed as a growth play. Flush with merger promises of 'synergy,' the executive team launched 'One Meridian,' an integration initiative to standardize operations, crew scheduling, customer service protocols, grooming and uniform standards, and accessibility services across the combined fleet. The change is framed as neutral and technical. But the acquired carrier had the industry's most trans-inclusive uniform policy, the most robust passenger accessibility program, and a community advisory board with real teeth. The new 'brand standards' were designed without input from the crew who live under them, the 'efficiency metrics' scrutinize the accessibility and inclusion programs most heavily, and the passenger engagement process was a single town hall held after the plan was already drafted. Meanwhile, crew members who raise concerns are being offered restructured roles or 'diversity liaison' promotions, and the programs serving the most marginalized passengers and employees are the ones being 'optimized' first. As the plan moves toward implementation, a pattern is becoming visible to those willing to look: the people most affected by the change are the ones with the least authority to define what the 'problem' actually is, and the change process itself is quietly reproducing the very inequities the airline's merger messaging celebrated.

Key Stakeholders

Camille Okonkwo

VP of Integration & Operational Excellence

Theo Kowalski

Director of Accessibility & Passenger Accommodation

Alex Rivera

Senior Flight Attendant & Lead, Pride at Meridian

Howard 'Howie' Brennan

Chief Financial Officer

Captain Priya Nair

Chief Pilot & ALPA Liaison

Jameson 'Jamie' Cole

Passenger Advocate & Community Advisory Board Member

Learning Objectives

• Analyze organizational change as a systemic, relational, and political process rather than a neutral technical intervention
• Examine how power operates visibly and invisibly through structures, norms, decision authority, and what counts as 'data' during change
• Identify whose perspectives are centered and whose are marginalized in defining problems and designing solutions
• Map how feedback loops and organizational routines reproduce existing power relations or create openings for transformation
• Design change interventions that account for interdependencies, stakeholder interests, and the unequal distribution of consequences
• Evaluate the role of leaders and practitioners in navigating power, conflict, and competing interests during systemic change