Cathay Pacific has sent Twitter into overdrive after it left an F off Pacific on one its Boeing 777-300s spelling its name “CATHAY PACIIC.”
But the airline to its credit made light of the embarrassing mistake saying; “Oops this special livery won’t last long! She’s going back to the shop!”
An engineer from Haeco, a sister company of the airline, told the South China Morning Post the mistake was inexplicable.
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“The spacing is too on-point for a mishap. We have stencils. Should be a blank gap in between letters if it was a real mistake I think,” the engineer said.
The error has ignited Twitter with many humorous comments.
One person on twitter said: “No one gives a F anymore, not even the painters!”
Another said: “In the age of Trump, just like the rest of us, Cathay Pacific literally has no Fs left to give.
And then one reminder us thus: “If you’ve ever been refused boarding to a flight because your name was spelled wrong on the ticket, you might take comfort from this fairly glaring error on the side of a @CathayPacific plane.”
Yet another said: “Maybe the typhoon blew the F out of it.”
A spokesperson for Cathay Pacific 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.”
The 777 is now back in the paint shop but Cathay has landed itself with some great publicity.
The extraordinary publicity comes just after the airline donated the first Boeing 777 to the Pima Air & Space Museum in Arizona.
Cathay Pacific and Boeing jointly announced that the historic first B777-200, line number WA001 and registered B-HNL, will fly from Hong Kong to Tucson September 18 to join 350 historic aircraft on permanent display.
There had been speculation the aircraft would end up at the Museum of Flight in Seattle but the sprawling Pima, which boasts historical aircraft ranging from a Wright Flyer to a Boeing 787 on an 80-acre site, is an equally fitting home.
Boeing first flew the 777-200 aircraft on June 12, 1994, with a test flight of 3 hours and 48 minutes that was the longest first flight for a Boeing aircraft at the time. It was one of nine test aircraft was used in the program for several years.
