Normally, all the "gunk" on boats, trains, planes, and autompbiles makes it HARDER to get the pieces apart when needed. It's VERY STRANGE that at AA the "gunk" makes all those old seats come apart!
I wonder if Ms Fagan has a clue at all.
It ain't the initial come apart doing maintenance that is the problem.
Some of us have vans where the rear seat is on tracks. Everything is fine for a few years until we need to slide the seat back a foot to fit the new TV in that the missus wants for the house. We bang on the seat to get it unlatched and then try sliding it back until we feel it settle into a new latch position. Only the gunk from all the kiddies spillling their slurpies etc. prevents the latch to make a truly satisfying snap sound as it seats. But the seat seems not to move anymore so we assume everything is OK.
Then when we slam on the brakes the seat comes hurtling forward because the new latch position was never quite seated.