CEO says he fired a co-worker after she helped him avoid being on 9/11 plane

A CEO has explained why he fired his colleague whose advice meant he didn't get on a 9/11 plane.

On 11 September 2001, Bill Ellmore was booked to fly on United Airlines Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco - one of the four flights hijacked by terrorists.

But writing on Twitter, he explained how his co-worker told him to get another flight to save time - meaning he was spared from tragedy - only to get the sack.

The CEO of Solomons Global Executive Services wrote: "I was booked on United Flight 93 on 9/11, 2001, flying nonstop from Newark NJ to San Francisco CA. Around midnight the night before, a coworker called me urging me to change my flight to fly into San Jose instead."

He didn't want to change flights because he would have to give up his first class seat and the flight to San Jose left 20 minutes later with a stopover in Denver.

However, his co-worker explained that the commute from San Francisco to Mountain View - where he was attending a meeting - would make him late for the meeting and traveling from San Jose would be much quicker.

He continued: "When I got to the airport, I watched people boarding flight 93 and I was upset that I was not leaving earlier, in my 1st class seat on a direct flight," he said. "I didn’t notice or care about the people as they were boarding, only myself."

He finally boarded his plane but as the flight was a few planes away from taking off, the pilot told passengers to look out the windows on the right side of the plane because it appeared the Twin Towers had been hit by a plane."

They were grounded and Ellmore said the experience changed him.

"I now take every opportunity to watch and if possible, get to know the people I’m boarding a plane with," he wrote. "I never hesitate to give up my seat for a later flight if requested.

"I’ve had two children since 9/11 and went to multiple mission trips to war torn countries. Every day I wake up breathing is another gift from God."

He finished his astonishing story with the words: "Never forget."

So what happened to his co-worker?

When asked about her, Ellmore responded: "Sad to say, I ultimately had to fire her for poor performance. It was difficult."

He continued: "The reason I was originally booked on Flight 93 was due to her performance issues. These issues didn’t improve afterwards and I delayed letting her go until my boss insisted it happen."

That's capitalism for you...

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