United Airlines announces investigation into leak of Cruz’s Cancun flight information

United Airlines says it’s investigating a leak of information regarding Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) controversial flight to Cancun, Mexico.

“It’s against United’s policies to share personal information about our customers and we are investigating this incident,” United told The Hill in a statement.

News of the probe was first reported by Politico. An executive told the news outlet that no option is “off the table” but it depends on the outcome of the investigation and if the employee who leaked the information is found. The executive noted that the leaker could be fired.

Politico noted that tens of thousands of United employees have access to customer flight data to help customers, but leaks about individual flight plans are rare.

Photos began circulating on the internet Wednesday night of Cruz boarding a flight as millions of people in Texas grappled with the fallout of extreme winter weather.

The Texas senator then issued a statement on Thursday saying that he had accompanied his daughters on a trip and would be returning that day.

Before Cruz’s statement, Edward Russell, a reporter for travel industry news outlet Skift, tweeted that a source at United told him Cruz rebooked his flight back to Houston that afternoon but was originally scheduled to return Saturday.

Spoke to a source at United Airlines, Senator 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.https://t.co/QV9xgibIQ9

— Edward Russell (@ByERussell) February 18, 2021

Travel reporters also posted photos of Cruz seeming to be on the standby list for United’s business class. One photo showed “CRU,R” on a list that said “standing by for United Business.”

And just like that, Ted (Rafael) Cruz seems to be on his way back to Texas.

“CRU, R.” is on the upgrade list on this afternoon’s flight from Cancun to Houston. He was on the list on yesterday afternoon’s flight down to Cancun, too. pic.twitter.com/4SJano1zb3

— Kyle Potter (@kpottermn) February 18, 2021

Cruz faced intense scrutiny on Thursday over the decision to go to Cancun and even faced calls to resign. The Senator admitted on Thursday evening that “it was a mistake” to take the trip.