Periodicals on Planes

 

Periodical Ramblings (11)

   In the old days, one used to get hot meals on airplanes and when the china and silverware were cleared, one could settle back and read an in-flight magazine. On our recent discount flight, little was offered and there was nothing to read. I can do without the food, although a beverage is appreciated, particularly one containing alcohol. I brought my own reading, but I still missed the airline magazine that used to be provided. Many other passengers probably did not, since most had devices which were streaming movies that were much livelier than any reading material could be.

   Now that one can stream movies and TV shows and use in-flight Wi-Fi,  the airlines are abandoning the print publications. The pandemic probably didn't help matters and the magazines are heavy and could possibly harbour germs when handled by many readers. But, often they were both very interesting and useful. It is worth documenting their disappearance to illustrate what has been lost.   

   Like Pan Am, periodicals on planes will disappear.  American Airlines has announced that it will no longer publish, American Way: Your Travel Inspiration Guide. It began as a booklet in 1966 and the President of American Airlines said in it: "We're delighted to welcome you aboard and we hope this booklet will add to the pleasure of your trip,'' he said. "Here you'll discover in words, pictures and artwork those special qualities of excellence that continue to distinguish American Airlines' people, services and equipment as the finest in the industry.'' For now, the website for American Way still exists and if you click on that link you can read 334 articles including this interesting one by Chadner Navarro, which is found in May 2021: Get Under the Covers at These Hotels: Across the Country, Hotels are Launching Literary Programs to Engage Guests With the Written Word."

   In-flight magazines were often like the best travel ones, full of fine photographs of exotic places, and suggestions about the top things to see and the best places to stay and eat. Often, as well, other subjects were covered as the image above suggests. Production expenses were not spared. The audience for the advertisements was, after all, a cosmopolitan and captive one. 

Canadian Content

   I am not sure what is happening with West Jet Magazine, but if you click on that link you will see that it will soon be "A new travel and leisure website." Some back issues are available via issuu, courtesy of RedPoint Media. 

   Air Canada's enRoute was always interesting and many subjects were covered - the March 2020 issue was devoted to sports and the May/June issue, "helps you make the most of Canadian summer (whether camping, glamping or cooking over a campfire), experience the passionate culture of flamenco and visit Newfoundland and Labrador’s icebergs. Plus, brilliant Indigenous designers, Saskatoon berry pie and answers to your aviation questions." There is a Wikipedia entry for enRoute and fortunately, many back issues of the magazine will be found here: enRoute.

Sources:

   The loss of these periodicals has not gone unnoticed. You can begin with this good piece:
"Final Call For the In-flight Magazine: It Has Survived the Challenge of Onboard Movies, WiFi, but Covid-19 Presents a Bigger Threat," Toby Skinner, Financial Times, July 16, 2020.

   "American Airlines Ends Inflight Magazine," by Ben Schlappig, onemileatatime.com, Aug. 21, 2021

   "An Ode to Airline Magazines, Which Appear to Be Permanently Grounded: American Airlines is the latest to end its in-flight publication, which served as an excellent and comforting travel resource, by Kirk Miller from InsideHook. June 11, 2021.

The Bonus:

   On a more positive note, there is this suggestion from the Financial Times article, which indicates that some in-flight magazines may survive for a while longer:

"Other airlines have made rapid changes to their distribution models. Air Canada enRoute, published by the Spafax-owned Bookmark content agency, will print four post-lockdown issues this year but none will be distributed on planes. After printing about 105,000 copies pre-Covid, there were 90,000 copies of the July issue, with 65,000 going to subscribers of The Globe and Mail newspaper, and 25,000 being delivered to the homes of Air Canada’s Super Elite frequent flyers. Similarly, Qantas magazine, produced by Sydney content agency Medium Rare, has been sending monthly copies to 40,000 of the airline’s frequent flyers."

Loyal readers will know that I ramble on about periodicals a lot and was able to do so even while travelling. The last one was about Steven Lamazow's huge collection of American magazines.