In a Facebook post that has since gone viral, a passenger posted images of seats that were apparently from the flight AirAsia X 379 from Taipei to Kuala Lumpur on 20th February 2023 showing that many seats on the flight were held together with yellow tape. In one photo, the armrests of at least nine seats could be seen to be taped together.
The passenger remarked, “I feel malu (ashamed). Foreigners must be thinking they are going to a very backward country. Planes are held together with tape.”
Comments quickly poured in from other social media users with some saying, “Better than some airlines duct taping the engine covers,”, “At least it's not taped at the wings” while another commented, “At least use black colour tape?” Others said that as it is a low-cost airline, they should not expect too much.
AirAsia since responded to CNA’s queries that these were “cosmetic cabin repairs’ and that the tape used was merely a “temporary measure”. The head of engineering of AirAsia X, Mr Alvin Tan, said that the yellow vinyl tape was used as they had a shortage of spare parts that affected the airline’s operations and that it was “not a safety issue”.
He said, "The specific vinyl tape, commonly used for cosmetic cabin repairs, was used as a temporary measure to prevent flight disruptions and to prioritise getting our guests safely and timely to their destinations. Spare parts orders placed in August 2022 have arrived last week, and repair work is currently ongoing progressively to fix all of the arm caps."
Last November, Tan Sri Tony Francis Fernandes resigned as the group CEO of AirAsia X.
Image credit: Edward Yong