All things in moderation, Kaptin M.
No one is suggesting that Dixon spend all his time out cleaning dunnies. Nor his coprorate cronies. Nor should this be taken as micro managing or not trusting your supervisory chain of command.
It should be seen as getting out there and staying in touch with the airline and it's core business. It is about touching base with the troops, finding out what is going on, and providing some leadership.
One of the problems as I see it in our world is that the definition of "loyalty" seems to have changed. Loyalty now seems to only focus "upwards", not "downwards". Employees are asked to give their all for their CEO and company, but that compliment is not repaid "down" the chain. And no wonder employees don't perform. They have no strong leadership.
Don't worry about "positive action" as you put it with those more "vocal beefs". They are the things as a CEO you already know about and they will get solved. What about the stuff you don't know about?
This is a different sort of "positive action", Kapt, but very positive none the less.