Delta Air Lines is investigating allegations that a pilot used a message to passengers to blame a grounded plane on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Flights all over Florida had to remain on the ground on Monday because of major issues with the air traffic control system, Reuters reported. The FAA worked on finding a solution, but not without setting restrictions on the traffic entering Florida airspace, leading to delays across the US. The grounding of Florida flights came after a period of Christmas chaos as severe weather prompted delays and cancellations in the thousands. Southwest Airlines was hit the hardest, taking more than a week to recover from its staffing problems. On Monday, a pilot in Atlanta is reported to have blamed the problems on Buttgieg in his message to passengers. One of the passengers, Stewart Lucas, tweeted his criticism of the airline, arguing that political messages were not appropriate for a pilot. “@Delta it is not okay for the pilot of flight 2274 ATL-RSW to blame a Florida ground stop on @PeteButtigieg,” he wrote in a since-deleted tweet. “Completely unacceptable political dig just made twice at gate over loud speaker.” In addition to the tweet, the account later appeared to also have been deleted. While specific information regarding what the pilot said wasn’t immediately available, airlines have previously let employees go for political statements. A spokesperson for Delta told the outlet that they’re looking into the allegation against the pilot.<br/>
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Shares of Garuda Indonesia slumped as much as 14.4% on Tuesday, marking the state carrier’s first trading day in 1-1/2 years, after the Jakarta stock exchange lifted a stock trading suspension. By 0400 GMT, the shares had pared losses and were down around 1.8% compared to their last market close on June 17, 2021, to trade at 218 rupiah ($0.0140) a piece. Garuda’s shares were suspended after the airline defaulted on $500m of Islamic bonds in 2021, amid financial difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline underwent a court-led debt restructuring last year. Garuda’s CE Irfan Setiaputra said the lifting of the suspension would be a catalyst for the airline to strengthen its fundamentals. The company plans to increase its fleet to at least 72 planes this year, not including aircraft operated by its low cost unit Citilink, to cater to a growing number of passengers after Indonesia removed all COVID-19 restrictions at the end of last year, it said. At the end of 2022, Garuda operated 61 planes, a company presentation on Dec. 27 showed. <br/>