Sanders flies coach, social media says he’s first class

Bernie Sanders’ supporters have launched a social media campaign highlighting their candidate’s frequent appearances on commercial airlines.

While almost all of the presidential hopefuls have on occasion traveled alongside — or in between — passengers in coach, Sanders is the one most likely to pop up in your feed killing time before his boarding call.

For a look, simply dial up #SandersOnAPlane on Twitter or Facebook and behold.

This image below, which has been floating around online for at least a month, comes with a call by user @destroyamber to “spread as many images as we can of [Sanders] flying coach.”

And spread they have – gaining altitude over the last few days. Here’s Bernie in the middle seat:

This popular pic has been made into an even more widely shared meme. “I’m voting for the guy,” it reads, text overlaying the image, “willing to sit in the middle seat.”

The @Sanders_Squad account even cooked up a little photo gallery, complete with an unwitting selfie and a shot of Sanders’ wife, Jane.

Here’s another, Sanders again seemingly caught unawares.

CNN International’s own John Vause shared a Southwest Airlines flight out of Las Vegas with Sanders after the first Democratic debate in October.

And here’s one more, a selfie with the man himself.

Many of the pictures featured in the tweets come from as far back as the summer. So why’s it bubbling up now?

In part, Sanders and his supporters might have a slow post-Christmas, pre-New Year’s news week to thank. But even then, there is no candidate who has energized and utilized backers on social media, loosely coordinating with independently organized Facebook groups like People for Bernie and the reddit page, Sanders For President, both with more than 140,000 heavily engaged subscribers.