On Friday, a Southwest Airlines pilot reportedly said “Let’s go Brandon” over the plane’s intercom. “Let’s go Brandon” is an anti-President Joe Biden euphemism for “F—k Joe Biden.”
The unidentified pilot ended his announcement with the phrase during a flight from Houston, Texas, to Albuquerque, New Mexico. What appears to be the end of the pilot’s announcement was captured on video and shared on social media.
According to The Associated Press, there were audible gasps from some of the passengers after hearing the announcement.
Southwest Airlines told Fox News in a statement that it “takes pride in providing a welcoming, comfortable, and respectful environment for the millions of customers who fly with the airline each year and behavior from any individual that is divisive or offensive will not be tolerated.”
The airline announced on Sunday that it was launching an internal investigation into the report.
“Southwest does not condone Employees sharing their personal political opinions while on the job serving our customers, and one Employee’s individual perspective should not be interpreted as the viewpoint of Southwest and its collective 54,000 employees,” the airline said in a statement. “Southwest is conducting an internal investigation into the recently reported event and will address the situation directly with any Employee involved while continuing to remind all employees that public expression of personal opinions while on duty is unacceptable.”
“Southwest does not tolerate any behavior that encourages divisiveness, as it does not reflect the Southwest Hospitality and inclusiveness for which we are known and strive to provide each day on every flight,” the statement concluded.
“Let’s go Brandon” went viral in October after a reporter interviewing NASCAR driver Brandon Brown misheard “F—k Joe Biden” chants that erupted from the crowd. Brown had just won a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama and the reporter apparently thought the spectators were chanting, “Let’s go Brandon.”
Southwest Airlines made headlines several times last month as the vaccine mandate deadline loomed. In early October, a photo of a Gadsden flag reportedly hanging out of the cockpit window of a Southwest Airlines plane went viral amid speculation that more than 1,000 flights were canceled as a result of airline employees protesting the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“This photo was just sent to me of a grounded Southwest plane flying a Gadsden flag out of the cockpit. The Hero Pilots at Southwest and other Airlines deserve our support,” Podcast host Benny Johnson tweeted. “True patriots worthy of the American Freedom Fighter tradition. Don’t Tread On Me. God Bless Them.”
