Delta Airlines is investigating a situation where one of its pilots allegedly blamed Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation for a grounded plane in an announcement to passengers.

Apparently, an air traffic control system went on the blink and stranded flights across Florida. As the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sought to fix the problem, it “slowed the volume of traffic into Florida airspace,” delaying passengers all across the U.S., Reuters reports.

The delayed flights followed what’s already been a difficult few weeks for anyone trying to fly in the aftermath of a devastating winter storm that caused flight delays and cancellations across the country right before Christmas, according to Newsweek. Southwest Airlines, one of Delta’s competitors spent more than a week dealing with staffing issues following the storm.

This, of course, means there’s been plenty of frustration for staff and passengers, but one pilot in Atlanta, took this to a new level, allegedly blaming the problems on Buttigieg during an announcement to passengers on Monday.

The pilot’s political commentary didn’t sit well with everyone, however, and one passenger, Stewart Lucas, called him out on Twitter.

“@Delta it is not okay for the pilot of flight 2274 ATL-RSW to blame a Florida ground stop on @PeteButtigieg,” Lucas tweeted. “Completely unacceptable political dig just made twice at gate over loud speaker.”

Poor Stu. pic.twitter.com/VayUYsqFEH

— 3Gun Gorilla (@GomesBolt) January 2, 2023

Details about what the pilot said haven’t been made clear yet, but airlines have fired staffers in the past for making political remarks to passengers. A spokesperson for Delta said the airline was looking into this report.

“Delta will look into this allegation,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement.

Some folks on social media defended the pilot, arguing that American citizens should be free to criticize government officials without fear of recourse.

https://twitter.com/AmyA1A/status/1610000676867739650

And as you might suspect, people in the Ron DeSantis camp are defending the pilot.

“Yeah… this isn’t China, Americans are allowed to criticize our government officials,” said Christina Pushaw, a spokeswoman for DeSantis.

It’s perfectly okay for airline employees to criticize government officials at work — our right to do this is protected by the Constitution. That said, however, private companies also can and do have the right to make policies about workplace conduct.

And this isn’t the first time airline employees have been investigated for making political remarks, and it should be noted that these remarks can wind up alienating passengers who may have different views.

Southwest Airlines faced backlash in 2021 after a pilot said “let’s go, Brandon,” while signing off after greeting passengers on the plane’s public address system. As you probably know, this is considered code for a vulgar insult against President Joe Biden.

The airline apologized for that incident, saying “it was not reflective of the Southwest hospitality for which we are known and strive to provide each day on every flight,” adding the company was addressing it with the employee.

Southwest had to deal with another incident that same year, after one of its pilots launched into a rant attacking liberals. The rant was caught on a hot mic prior to the plane taking off. While the airline said it was “addressing the situation internally,” the FAA also got involved, CBS News reported.

It’s good that the airlines take these incidences seriously. Flying is stressful enough without having to listen to some fool at the steering wheel of an enormous flying machine voicing their opinions about Biden, Donald Trump, or any other politician.