Cathay Pacific is bringing a newly-painted aircraft “back to the shop” after a huge spelling mistake that would likely cost thousands of dollars.
The Hong Kong-based airline amused netizens when it poked fun at the spelling gaffe on Twitter yesterday.
Oops this special livery won’t last long! She’s going back to the shop!
(Source: HKADB) pic.twitter.com/20SRQpKXET— Cathay Pacific (@cathaypacific) September 19, 2018
“Oops this special livery won’t last long! She’s going back to the shop!”
The photos, which reportedly emerged from the Hong Kong Aviation Discussion Board Facebook page, show the Boeing 777-367 missing the letter “F” between the two “I”s in the airline’s name.
The result: “Cathay Paciic.”
An engineer from Haeco, a maintenance company and Cathay Pacific subsidiary, told the South China Morning Post that the error was “too on-point.”
“The spacing is too on-point for a mishap. We have stencils. [There] should be a blank gap in between letters if it was a real mistake I think.”
According to the Guardian, the plane had been flying overnight from Xiamen in the mainland and arrived in Hong Kong early Wednesday.
The titanic typo has Twitter laughing.
No f’s were given that day
— Aghiad Haloul (@AghiadHaloul) September 19, 2018
Fixed it. pic.twitter.com/c8NtP9asRs
— Willie Montgomery (@shoxdude) September 19, 2018
Shop? Bah, put a little ^ and an f above it.
— darren (@darrenpauli) September 19, 2018
— Kevin (@kevinjia1122) September 19, 2018
Does it say „CATHAY PACFFC“ on the other side of the fuselage? 😉
— Frank L (@flffm) September 19, 2018
However, some think it was unprofessional of the airline.
I’m not sure why this is not funny to me. I fly Cathay and to me this just shows a breakdown in quality – no humor (and I’m a funny guy 😂). Not something I think should be so blatantly and proudly publicized on a brand I spend money to support. How much did this “mistake” cost?
— Mike Cooper (@mcooperatl) September 19, 2018
Still, Cathay Pacific is cool with all the jokes. A spokesperson told CNN Travel:
“We did not intend to make it a big fuss in the first place, but photos went viral within the aviation enthusiastic groups, so we just shared the hilarious moment with everyone.”
