WATCH: Spirit Airlines employee caught taping the wing of the plane, aviation community calls it speed tape and says it’s totally normal

There is a video going viral on social media showing a Spirit Airlines employee casually applying tape to the wing of a plane while passengers watch through a nearby window.

Hand up. I would never fly Spirit Airlines. That’s American peasantry at it’s finest. It’s not often you’d find a man of my stature stooping to the lowest of levels by flying around in a yellow tin can when luxury or comfort is nonexistent.

How anyone could settle for folding chairs, a rowdy and downright inappropriate group of flyers, and an inept cab crew is beyond me. Add in the very public fact that Spirit Airlines itself has filed for bankruptcy and the fact that anyone even considers them an option to fly should be categorically insane.

That brings us to this video that’s going viral on social media. A Spirit Airlines employee, who literally could be any random dude off the street, was caught on video taping the wing of a plane. Any way you look at it, this video doesn’t not instill a lick of confidence for anyone that’s about the depart on that airplane.

Spirit Airlines employee taping the wing of the plane

A passenger on Spirit Airlines catches the company duct taping their plane together

“Just give me my money back”

I believe this is actually ‘speed tape,’ a temporary fix for aircrafts for non critical fixes pic.twitter.com/eQDpkPE222

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) March 16, 2026

Now, the aviation people on the internet have been very quick to jump in and explain that it is not duct tape. It is something called speed tape, which is apparently an aluminum-based industrial adhesive that is FAA approved, used by every airline in the world, and can handle winds up to 600 miles per hour.

The aviation part of the internet wants you to know that speed tape is commonly used and the fact that this kid in Vans is out on the wing taping up the plane is completely normal. They tell you there’s literally nothing to worry about, which is probably true, but at the same time, I don’t really care.

I am not saying speed tape is not real. Maybe it is. Maybe it is the single greatest technological advancement in aerospace history. That is entirely possible.

What is not possible is looking at a Spirit Airlines employee taping the wing of a plane in broad daylight with passengers watching it happen and feeling good about it. It does not matter what the tape is made of. It does not matter what temperature it can withstand. The visual alone is cooked and no amount of aviation science is going to fix that.

That type of thing needs to happen in the hanger. Maybe Spirit Airlines no longer has their own hangers? Either way, I would much rather have that done privately and by someone that doesn’t look like a skateboarder who just gone done a sesh at FDR park.

Do it literally anywhere that is not directly outside windows. The lack of situational awareness from the Spirit ground crew is genuinely impressive.

This is very on brand for Spirit though. Spirit Airlines has never once pretended to be something it is not. It is the budget option. As mentioned above, it’s American peasantry at it’s finest. You buy the ticket knowing exactly what you are getting into and you are not allowed to complain about it afterward. The tape is just the latest chapter.

Spirit Airlines flew Philly passengers through a Category 4 Hurricane and landed in San Juan safely

I still don’t understand how Spirit filed for bankruptcy in 2024 and planes are somehow still flying. The company technically does not exist in its original form. The speed tape might be the only thing holding the whole operation together at this point, corporate structure included.

Do not fly Spirit. Not because of the tape. Because by the time you pay for your seat, your bag, and a cup of water, you could have flown an actual airline.

If you do find yourself in a situation where you are already on the plane and you see a guy out there taping the wing, just know the tape is fine… I guess.

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