United Airlines launches investigation into Ted Cruz itinerary leaker

United's probe stems from a tweet by travel reporter Edward Russell. He cites a source within United Airlines when claiming Sen. Ted Cruz "rebooked his flight back to Houston from Cancun for this afternoon at around 6 a.m. today (Thursday). He was originally scheduled to return on Saturday.

Upgrade standby lists are publicly available, and that’s how people first spotted Ted Cruz's Thursday flight back to Houston.

But whether or not someone rebooks a flight is private info. Speaking exclusively to Politico, a United executive said “it’s against United’s policies to share personal information about our customers and we are investigating this incident.”

Social media outrage exploded after Sen. Ted Cruz was first spotted boarding a Texas to Cancun flight. This in the midst of a once-in-a-century winter storm hit most of the region that caused water pipes to burst and rolling power blackouts. To them it seemed like the Senator was fleeing the disaster.

Sen. Ted Cruz published a statement responding to the situation. It starts off by acknowledging the tumultuous weather in Texas that led to widespread power outages, heating and water problems.

With regards to Cancun: "With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon." Cruz reassured Texans he wasn’t ignoring the ongoing crisis in their state.