American Airlines Evokes Backlash Online After Apologising for Pilot's 'Let's Go Brandon' Sticker

While some netizens urged the airline to not fire the pilot, others warned that they might stop flying American Airlines if the latter were to take action against the man.

American Airlines has apologised online after a concerned citizen notified them about a “Let’s Go Brandon” sticker they spotted on one of the carrier’s pilot’s luggage.

The complainant tweeted a photo of the sticker in question and, having tagged the airline in her post, inquired whether American Airlines were “cool” with their pilots “displaying this kind of cowardly rhetoric on their crew luggage when they are in uniform, about to fly a plane”.

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention and we want to get this to the right team,” the airline replied on Twitter. “Please DM any additional details.”

@AmericanAir@danacfinley

"Let's go Brandon" is now supposedly "speech that supports the insurrection / violence against the US government."

And this one thinks she should have a say in who pilots commercial aircraft.#LunaticFringe #BeyondParody pic.twitter.com/HxNcBqjGTd

— Max Autonomous (@MaxAutonomous) January 10, 2022

Thank you for bringing this to our attention and we want to get this to the right team. Please DM any additional details.

— americanair (@AmericanAir) January 9, 2022

The American Airlines’ reaction, however, apparently did not sit well with quite a few social media users who argued that the pilot did nothing wrong.

Leave the man alone! He did nothing wrong!

— Rebecca R (@Beccabo59413594) January 9, 2022

Don’t kowtow to this nonsense.

— Lexi (@penngirl72) January 9, 2022

Do nothing to this pilot. Karen just needed to vent to look important.

— Cindy Merritt 🍊❤️🇺🇸 (@merrittva) January 9, 2022

AA please don’t cave to every Karen

— evelyn (@Elou33) January 9, 2022

Some urged the airline to not fire the pilot, or even suggested that he should get a raise “for having to deal with Karen passengers such as this one.”

Don’t fire your pilots for being conservative or criticizing Biden. We won’t have any pilots left. As if the thousands of flight cancellations aren’t enough already. @AmericanAir do the right thing. https://t.co/OW1kS1KdV5

— Christina Pushaw 🐊 (@ChristinaPushaw) January 9, 2022

Hope he and everyone else gets a raise for having to deal with Karen passengers such as this one.

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) January 9, 2022

And there were also those who promised to never fly American Airlines again if the latter were to take action against the pilot.

If you take ANY action against these pilots and crew members because this Karen complained about her overprotected sensibilities, I promise you I will never fly @AmericanAir again, and this’ll make the rounds in the media until you lose 40%+ of your customer base

Not worth it

— Bronze Age Redux 🏴‍☠️ (@SteelAndSunMan) January 9, 2022

I'm an Executive Platinum, have been for nearly 7 years, flying nearly 150k miles a year pre-covid. You will lose a loyal customer if you punish this pilot for exercising his 1st amendment. pic.twitter.com/mkB34D1MO2

— Fuck Orthodoxy (@BeersNBullshit) January 9, 2022

As the complainant has since made her Twitter account private, it is somewhat problematic to gauge the feedback she received online.