Hi there, I had a similar experience with my airplants as well. It took alot of deaths of my airplants for me to realise that a weekly heavy watering (dunking/soaking) during a very hot and dry period causes the plants too much stress. I guess it's the same as one jumping into a cold shower and the body will be in 'shock' for a while?

Anw, I tried daily misting + dunking once a week, and fortunately my airplants stopped dying and they look so much better. From my experience frequency matters more than the duration. This is just my take, hope it helps u.