We met recently with Robert Isom, the chief executive officer of American Airlines Group. Isom was in Chicago to reinforce his airline's newly expanded commitment to Chicago, as writ large by the coming return of his airline's nonstop flight from Chicago's O'Hare airport to Tokyo Narita, a vital dual-hub addition to our city's international connectivity that had been gone for seven years.

Isom told us he had met with some of the city's business and political leaders and had many productive conversations. When we asked him what his airline needed from Chicago, he answered, in essence, that it was crucial the city remain a major business center. There will be connecting passengers at either end of that Tokyo flight, of course, but connections can be made at several hubs, many of which have cheaper landing fees than Chicago. Isom was making the point that the route needed substantial hometown demand, too. And that was dependent on the health of business in Chicago.

That upbeat meeting was in our heads when we read this truly unfathomable statement by Mayor Brandon Johnson, from a recent press conference: "The progressive movement is alive and well. We just have a few obstinate individuals that are more aligned with the interests of corporations that are ultimately stalling what could be a full-out revolution in this city, and the people of Chicago want it."

We suspect we're on the list of Johnson's "few obstinate individuals," along with assorted aldermen who do not enjoy mayoral favor, and we take pride in that. And, for the record, we agree with the mayor that the progressive movement is alive and well. Look no further than New York City to confirm that claim.

But Johnson didn't stop there: He simply cannot stop trashing a business community that is trying like heck to promote growth and public safety even as City Hall insists on demonizing its honorable intentions.

When will this stop? Why does the mayor not see that the interests of corporations often align with the people who work for them and have a vested interest in their ongoing health? In this particular egregious comment, he goes after any and all corporations. It's an ad hominem attack.

The mayor might be interested in a revolution, presumably of a socialist or Marxist flavor. Good for Johnson. But that's not what Chicagoans want from their mayor.

We don't think for a second that the overwhelming majority of Chicagoans are craving "a full-out revolution" in our city and we also feel pretty sure that the "few" is actually the majority of a city of more than 2.7 million people. Even many of those who might be interested in these ideas don't look to their mayor to deliver a revolution.

This is what we think Chicagoans want and expect from their mayor:

To feel and be safe.

To be fully employed in an organization that offers them a bright future.

To receive the city services they need with a minimum of bureaucracy and incompetence and a maximum of efficiency and transparency.

To have a business community that trusts and honors the mayor and demonstrates it by giving back to its home city and helping make this a great place to raise a family.

To have enough choices of places to live that rents are competitive and enough vibrant business corridors that no one can exploit neighborhood residents with high prices because they are unable to go elsewhere for a better deal.

To feel like this is a world-class city on the move.

We've heard that Johnson speaks differently to different audiences. We certainly hope he didn't tell American Airlines that its new flight to Tokyo was stalling some kind of "full-out revolution" that, actually, so very few of us want. We've no reason to believe he did.

But we do have reason to say that our mayor should be heralding this new investment from one of America's biggest corporations in our city.

That flight will soar up into the air. We plan on continuing, as obstinately as ever, to insist that most Chicagoans want to take off, too.

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