A video emerged online earlier this week showing a pilot signing off his announcement to passengers via the intercom system with "Let's go Brandon."
The pilot can be heard saying: “We’re heading east at about 107 or 108 mph. Clear visibility, mostly clear skies, about 77 degrees. Thanks for coming out, flying Southwest Airlines, welcome home and let’s go Brandon.”
Colleen Long, an AP journalist who was on that Southwest Airlines flight from Houston to Albuquerque on Friday morning, tweeted that after she heard the pilot she tried to "get him to comment" but was "almost removed from the plane."
The pilot's announcement has been widely discussed on social media, with some users vowing to never fly with Southwest again because of his "inappropriate behaviour."
Meanwhile, others believe that the incident is not worth the hype.
In a statement to Fox News, Southwest Airlines said 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 behaviour from any individual that is divisive or offensive will not be tolerated."
The phrase "Let's go Brandon" went viral after an interview with race car driver Brandon Brown following his victory in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Alabama earlier in October. When the reporter was talking to Brown, chants of "F*** Joe Biden" could be heard from the audience. The reporter, however, told the driver that the crowd was chanting "Let's go Brandon." Since then, the phrase has become a euphemism for the anti-Biden chant.