By: Joe Strupp When federal marshals shot and killed an irate American Airlines passenger in Miami Wednesday, The Miami Herald didn't have far to go to find the airline's chief operating officer. He was in the Herald building lunching with Publisher Jesus Diaz.
As the tragic events were unfolding at Miami International Airport, where Rigoberto Alpizar was shot and killed on a jetway after telling airline crew members that he had a bomb, American Airlines COO Gerard Arpey was in an executive dining room at the paper for a previously-arranged lunch with Diaz, at least one Herald reporter, and several Airline staffers, Executive Editor Tom Fiedler said.
"He was having a meeting with the publisher and he was quickly surrounded by our [newsroom] folks," recalled Fiedler, referring to the reporters who approached Arpey for comment as the story broke. "He had no information because it had just occurred and didn't know anything about it until they told him."
Following the lunch, Fiedler provided Arpey with an office outside the Herald newsroom that the CEO used to find out about the shooting and, apparently, to direct the company's response. "I assume he got in touch with his people," Fiedler said. "He used it for about half an hour."
But, unfortunately, the Herald's reporters got only a 'no comment' from the airline chief for their troubles. "It wasn't a surprise because he was still learning things," Fiedler said. "They probably thought 'no comment' was the safest position to take."
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