The company's executive chairman and publisher of Travel 3Sixty, Datuk Kamarudin Meranun said that the airline company will also be taking disciplinary action against its editorial team.
“With deep regret and remorse I would like to sincerely apologise for any offense caused by the Pilot's Perspective article in the latest issue of Travel 3Sixty magazine,” said Kamarudin in a statement.
Founder and Group CEO of AirAsia Tan Sri Tony Fernandes also tweeted his profound apologies on the matter:
The article in question drew criticism among netizens yesterday after a passenger posted a photograph, saying that the airline was managed by “arrogant douchebags”.
The April edition contained a section, a monthly column on aviation written by Capt Lim Khoy Hing – a retired pilot who formally worked with AirAsia as well as Malaysia Airlines (MAS).
Lim had also written numerous books on the aviation industry.
A screencapture of the offending article.
“Unintentionally and regrettably, the current issue carried an article that discussed about GPS and Radar, which was printed a month before its issue date,” said Kamaruddin.
The content of the articles are usually prepared months in advance. In this edition, it was completed in February.
In the said article, the feature on GPS also had examples of pilot navigation errors that occurred on Boeing aircraft even though AirAsia only flies Airbus planes.
However, it was a promotional inset at the side of the page which drew the most angry responses. It read: “Pilot training in AirAsia is very thorough and continuous. Rest assured that your Captain is well-trained and the plane will never get lost.”
Those who criticised said that the article was inappropriate, giving that the nation as well as the industry was still grieving and focused on the missing MAS Boeing 777-200ER that disappeared on March 8 with 239 on board.
“We’ve addressed the issue and have improved our editorial approval process to ensure this does not happen in the future and ensure that all content in the magazine is consistent with our brand values,” said Kamaruddin.
“This is a truly difficult time for the nation and words cannot describe how I personally feel about this incident. It truly saddens me that this article was released at such an inopportune moment.
“Again, I repeatedly offer my sincere apologies for any discomfort this may have caused,” he said.
In February, AirAsia also removed an in-house advertisement pasted on the seats of its planes which was deemed insensitive to nurses.
In the course of almost a month, there has been more than a few cases where individuals or companies were regarded to have committed faux pas in relation to the missing plane.
Former Perak menteri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin was chastised when he joked that the plane could have been lost at the "new Bermuda triangle".
Local actor Zed Zaidi was also lambasted when he attempted to joke about the plane's disappearance on Twitter.
Food delivery company Room Service had to apologise after an email newsletter told its customers it could send them food while they glued themselves to MH370 news.
