'Goddamn liberal f***s:' Southwest Airlines pilot goes on hot mic rant about Bay Area

Southwest Airlines has confirmed that a pilot who went on an anti-Bay Area rant while on a hot mic is an employee of the company, SFGate reports.

"F*** this place, goddamn liberal f***s," the pilot said during his rant. "F***ing weirdos, probably driving around in f***ing Hyundais, f***ing roads and sh*t that go slow as f***. You don’t have balls unless you’re f***ing rolling coal, man, goddamn it."

The airline said that they are "fully addressing the situation internally" and did not identify the pilot involved in the incident. Not disclosing the name is consistent with FAA guidelines for investigating such incidents.

"Our corporate culture is built on a tenet of treating others with concern and dignity and the comments are inconsistent with the professional behavior and overall respect that we require from our Employees," a spokesman for the company said. "This situation was an isolated incident involving a single Employee and not representative of the nearly 60,000 hardworking, respectful people of Southwest Airlines."

"This communication is very unprofessional, and I have forwarded the communication to the FAA," said Mineta San Jose International Airport spokesperson Demetria Machado.

The FAA also commented on the matter, noting that it is illegal for airline pilots to discuss anything aside from safety measures during taxiing, takeoff, and landing. The incident took place while the airplane was taxiing.

"FAA regulations prohibit airline pilots from talking about subjects that are unrelated to safely conducting their flight while taxiing and while flying below 10,000 feet altitude," said FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor. "The FAA also reported the incident to the airline."