It was mainly an explanation, that "airgapping" does not magically provides better security, or is required (or possible) to use at all here.

And it's pretty clear to me that they were criticizing storage of sensitive data in a database that isn't properly secured and they simply misused the term "airgapped". The database in question was easily accessible from poorly maintained development infrastructure.

> Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize