A Spirit Airlines Worker Got Caught Taping The Wing Of The Plane And Honestly? Good For Them.
There is a video going absolutely nuclear on TikTok right now of a Spirit Airlines employee applying what appears to be duct tape to the wing of a plane.
The TikToker filming it is losing her mind. The comments are apocalyptic.
I watched the video. And I have thoughts, and I need everybody to take a deep breathe.
First, the boring truth that nobody wants to hear- (according to Aviation File, ever heard of it?) it's not duct tape. It's called "speed tape."
It's an aluminum-based industrial tape that's specifically engineered for aircraft and FAA-approved. It's used by every airline in the world. The stuff can withstand winds up to 600 miles per hour and temperatures from negative 65 to 300 degrees.
The TikToker, to her absolute credit, does not care about any of that. She was freaking out about how non-chalant the whole thing was.
And she's 100% correct. The level of disrespect and the audacity of doing it in public like that was wild. The lack of awareness and the sheer "yeah we're taping the wing, what about it" energy of the Spirit ground crew was so stunning you have to respect it.
Do your fucking speed tape maintenance in the hangar like a normal airline. Don't do it stage left while of 140 people are buckled in watching through the window like they're on set of Final Destination 15.
This is Spirit Airlines' whole thing though.
They have never once pretended to be anything other than what they are.
Spirit is the airline equivalent of a $40 Craigslist couch. Its not pretty but it gets the job done. You buy it "as is". And you're not allowed to think too hard about how it got there.
This video is apparently old and is just happening to resurface now and the best part of the whole thing might be Spirit's response which was that this happens "every few years."
They have a PR response all ready to go. They've been through this before. MULTIPLE TIMES.
Somewhere in the Spirit corporate office there's a folder titled "Wing Tape Media Cycle" and they just open it, send the same email, and wait for the news cycle to move on.
Do I fly Spirit?
No.
Would I?
Also no. (No offense)
But not because of the speed tape.
Aside from the obvious barbarians who fly it, also because of the $89 carry-on fee. That is that company's real crisis. Not the structurally sound aluminum aerospace adhesive.
The fact that by the time you pay for your bag, your seat, and a bottle of water you could have just flown Delta or United and traveled like a civilized person.
p.s.- Spirit declaring bankruptcy back in 2024 and still having planes in the air is the most Spirit Airlines thing to ever happen. The company technically doesn't exist anymore in the same form and the planes are somehow still out there. The tape is holding more than just the wing together. It's holding the entire corporate structure together. Much respect, honestly.
p.p.s.- H/t @Leonard_smalls