A Southwest Airlines pilot has been spotted waiting to board a flight in uniform with a large politically-motivated slogan sticker attached to his crew bag which read: “I used to be liberal. Then I left home & got a job”.
The sticker has been branded as “offensive” and “disgusting” after Theresa Lenz from Washington DC shared the photo in a tweet on Thursday.
In January, American Airlines faced a similar backlash after a pilot was photographed waiting to board a flight with a ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ luggage tag hanging off his bag.
The bag tag also featured the hashtag ‘#FJB’ which is believed to be shorthand for ‘Fuck Joe Biden’. The ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ chant was adopted by some Republicans last October as a means to criticize President Joe Biden.
The phrase was also adopted to protest the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates and protestors, including some American Airlines pilots, were heard shouting the slogan outside AA’s headquarters during vaccine mandate protests.
Soon after the phrase came to public prominence, a Southwest Airlines pilot ended his greeting to passengers by signing off with “Let’s go Brandon” over the plane’s public address system.
The incident happened on an early morning flight from Houston to Albuquerque in October 2021 just days after Southwest Air pilots allegedly also used the phrase on an air traffic control frequency.
Earlier this month it was revealed that a former Delta Air flight attendant was suing her ex-employer after she was sacked for posting a political cartoon on her Facebook profile.
Leondra Taylor, a long-serving flight attendant who worked for Northwest Airlines before it was acquired by Delta posted a viral cartoon of former President Trump wearing a KKK hood during a Presidential election debate.
In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Delta said employees were allowed to “intermix Delta’s brand with conduct or content that does not reflect our values of professionalism, inclusion and respect”.
Southwest Air has been contacted for comment. The airline has not addressed Theresa’s concerns on Twitter.
How is this “offensive” and “disgusting”? Offensive to who? It’s kinda funny.
Oh No!!! a liberal woman has her “feelings” hurt by a sticker??? who could’ve seen that coming?
It’s sad to see the decline of professionalism amongst my fellow pilot group. We need to remember that we carry a variety of passengers with different backgrounds and beliefs. In order to create a neutral and welcoming environment for all, the baggage stickers, uniform pins, and other forms of “flair” need to stay at home. Only then can we hopefully restore the image of this once highly respected profession in the US.
This is highly offensive to my dog and cat! I have taught both of them to read and unfortunately they both turned out to be liberals. Don’t know where I went wrong.
Oh no karen.. thin skinned liberals
There’s no way that such a sticker has any intent other than to illustrate that the owner is a troll. The sticker is puerile, mean-spirited, and simply stupid. This is not a good look for someone who has a couple hundred lives in their professional hands.
Ever heard of free speech? Many have died to preserve this freedom we all are allowed to enjoy.
Grow up “Karen.” Teach your children to respect the opinions of others even though they disagree.
Well, guess what lady, I too used to be liberal, then I moved out and got a job. If that offends you, go stick your head back in the sand.
They can dish is out but they can’t take it. Put a BLM on there and you will find yourself loved by the same people.
Take a chill pill, Theresa. “Sticks and stone …” and all that.
It’s called Freedom of Expression. This twit obviously has no idea what the means.
Yet another of the millions of Americans who DON’T GET THIS. The First Amendment does NOT guarantee us freedom of expression. It only guarantees that the GOVERNMENT cannot make/enforce laws that deny us that. A private workplace like Southwest’s planes can and does prohibit a great deal of speech. Passengers can be and have been thrown off planes when pilots or flight attendants have decided their “expression” was offensive in some way, and in general their right to do this has been upheld.
Secondly, it’s one thing when a CUSTOMER chooses to express an opinion like this. When an EMPLOYEE does so, it implies endorsement by the employer.
This also FORCES customers to view the opinion. Even in cases covered by the First Amendment, nowhere is anyone guaranteed the right to force me toe LISTEN to their opinion — only the right for them to voice it. I am increasingly disgusted with people of all political views who feel their right of expression extends to things like blocking public roads to force me to listed to whatever crap they are peddling. Let the pilot display whatever he wants in the Airport, which is a quasi-public space, but not in an aircraft I need to be in to travel and for which I have paid a price to do so.
“I used to be a bus driver. Then I realized that if you do that in a plane, you get paid more.”
As far as I’m concerned, the pilot has the right to express his opinion. His ability to fly the plane is my concern. I choose whether or not to be offended by something on someone’s luggage.
Absolutely ridiculous liberal BS! No doubt if he had a sticker blasting the “mean orange man” this same silly liberal would’ve laughed and applauded it! Hypocrite much?!?
Unbelievable! What happened to the old saying ‘take care of their own business’? This people is so ‘entitled’ that I’m afraid for the future as a country. People are allowed to have their own opinions about anything. That is called ‘freedom of speech’ up to the point it becomes unlawful. If the pilot broke ANY law, sue him. If not, let it go, let him and whoever wants to express their dissent opinion of your own.