Southwest Airlines faces flak over pilot’s purported anti-Biden signoff

Southwest Airlines is facing turmoil on social media after one of its pilots reportedly said a sentence over the aircraft’s public address system that was used in right-wing circles as a substitute for President Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony.

An Associated Press journalist was on a flight from Houston to Albuquerque on Friday when she heard the pilot use the phrase “Let’s go Brandon” and write that it caused an audible gasp in some passengers.

TFW you are trying to go on vacation and then the pilot says exactly what you are working on over the speaker and you have to try to have him comment but then you are almost removed from the plane. https://t.co/xZI5FtLzJB

– Colleen Long (@ ctlong1) October 30, 2021

The pilot’s greeting was widespread on social media.

The phrase has been used as a “code” by conservative critics of the President since a chant of “F — Joe Biden!” broke out among a crowd on the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama in early October. An NBC Sports reporter who interviewed NASCAR driver Brandon Brown live said, “You can hear the crowd chanting, ‘Let’s go Brandon!'”

This incident went viral when some Trump supporters claimed journalists tried to censor sentiment against Biden, and since then many Republicans have used the phrase as a “G-rated replacement for its more vulgar three-word cousin,” the Associated Press reported .

Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., Ended a speech in the house on Oct.21 with a punch and the sentence. South Carolina Republican Jeff Duncan wore a face mask in the Capitol while Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, posed with a sign with the phrase at the World Series.

In a statement to The Dallas Morning News, Southwest Airlines said it was conducting an internal investigation and would “discuss the situation directly with all employees involved while reminding all employees that public expression of personal opinions while on duty is unacceptable.”

“Southwest does not condone employees sharing their personal political opinions while serving our customers, and an employee’s individual perspective should not be used as a point of view for Southwest and its 54,000 employees,” the airline said . “Southwest does not tolerate behavior that promotes division.”

The Southwest Airlines pilots union has sued the airline for complying with a Biden Administration vaccine mandate for federal contractors. Pilots were at the forefront of the fight against required vaccinations, pushing for options like frequent testing or face masks.

A Fort Worth federal judge last week denied the union’s request for a restraining order, which will effectively allow the airline to get the necessary COVID-19 vaccinations. Southwest Airlines employees have until November 24 to submit a vaccination certificate or medical or religious dispensation application prior to the federal December 8 deadline.

Many users on social media where the airline was trending on Sunday morning threatened to boycott Southwest over the pilot’s alleged comment.

Harvard professor and CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem tweeted that “every passenger on this flight has the right to file a complaint with the FAA,” calling on Southwest to investigate the pilot. Former Democratic California congressional candidate Regina Marston went even further and called for “the pilot to be fired”.

The story also became a rally for some defending the pilot’s alleged remarks, and some said the incident would encourage them to fly southwest.

Since the cryptic phrase gained popularity in right-wing circles, former President Donald Trump’s Save America PAC has started selling a $ 45 T-shirt that featured a picture of Biden above the phrase is.

While in office, Trump used public profanity at times, which his supporters viewed as a clarification of the truth and his opponents as vulgarity and sometimes racism. He railed against immigrants from “S — hole countries” and tweeted that Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was a “pompous ass”. Sometimes he was also the target of profanity from Democrats.

After more than nine months in office, Biden has increasingly become the target of vitriol for many Trump supporters. The backlash partly reflects Trump’s own repeated unsubstantiated claims that Biden is a usurper who is depriving Trump of his right to the presidency, and is based in part on Biden’s actions that Republicans regret, from his spending plans to immigration policies.

When the president visited Scranton, Pennsylvania earlier this month, he was greeted on the corner of Biden Street by a woman holding a hand-made “F — Joe Biden” sign with an American flag as the vowel in the offensive word.

Boos, ridicule, and profanity are nothing new to politicians, especially those who reach the White House. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as Trump, were all harassed and survived protests along their motorcade routes and at events.

Adela Suliman, The Washington Post on Bloomberg

Airlines

American Airlines canceled more than 1,200 flights over the weekend, blaming the weather

American Airlines canceled more than 900 flights on Friday and Saturday after strong winds in north Texas and weather elsewhere in the country forced them to put planes on the side at key airports. Despite the idyllic northern Texas weather on Saturday, the Fort Worth-based airline still had to cancel about 17% of its flight schedule, about 461 flights, and delay another 11% of its flights in the afternoon, according to airline tracker Flightaware .com.

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